Of Demons and Lovers
by King of Everything
Summary: Naruto is the exiled prince of the Kitsune fox demons, son of the mighty Kyuubi. Sakura is a demon hunter, who hates all demons with a passion. When the two meet, what will the results be? NarutoxSakura, KibaxHinata, InoxShikamaru, more inside. AU
1. Chapter 1: Who'd Have Thought?

Full summery: Naruto is a fox demon, once next in line for the throne of nin-tails, now a bitter exile because of his want to befriend the human race. Now he has a new family of Demons like him, who were banished for being different.

Sakura is a famed demon-hunter who has never failed to bag her prey, and she has now set her eyes of Naruto's strange pack. Naruto has never done anything wrong, but Sakura refuses to believe that good can come from demons like him. So then what is this strange sturring in her heart? And who is the figure in the shadows who seems dead set on pitting them against each other?

Major Pairings: NarutoXSakura, KibaXHinata, InoXShikamaru, TentenXNeji/Lee (conflict)

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, although I do really like the characters. Disclaimer's Disclaimer: There are certain characters who I dislike. Disclaimer's Disclaimer's Disclaimer: That was trying too hard.

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_**Chapter 1: Who'd Have Thought?

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**_

It was a beautiful day, honestly. A cliche, perhaps, but there wasn't much else you could say about a day like today. The sky was a radiant blue, with just enough cloud to allow a person to look up into the sky without having to shade their eyes. The forest was lush and green, the birds all seemed content to flutter about without any care, it was pleasantly cool, and a light coat of dew rested on the leaves and flower petals from the night before. It was truly one of those days that made you feel good to be alive.

What appeared at first glance to be a young boy, perhaps 16 or 17, was laying out in a large clearing on his back, staring up into the sky. He was a decently handsome lad, although rather strange looking when you started to take in a few of his less common features. His hair was blond, thick and messy, but looked good that way. He appeared to be a good 6 feet tall, although that was hard to tell, him laying on his back. His eyes were bright blue and his features were kind, open and trusting. He wore no shirt at the moment, showing off a lean but highly toned physique, nor shoes for that matter, but did wear dark blue jeans. On a stranger note, he had a set of markings of three horizontal, curved lines on his cheeks, which looked almost like whiskers. Even stranger was that, though you couldn't see it given how his hair fell down the sides of his head, he had no human ears. Instead, a pair of golden, triangular fox ears stuck out the top of his head, just barely poking through his hair. To go along with this, he also had a long and thick, bushy fox tail, each of his fingers and toes ended in razor sharp claws, and if he were to open his mouth you would see a pair of long and very sharp canines.

As anyone should be able to tell by now, Naruto no Kitsune is no ordinary boy. He is what is commonly refered to as a demon.

Naruto yawned as he lazily watched the clouds roll by, taking note of their odd shapes and forms. Today was one of the simpler days for him, a day when he didn't have to deal with people hunting or chasing him, or running him out of some village. It was peaceful. It was tranquil. It was calming.

It was boring as all hell.

A pair of footsteps moving through the forest behind him caused him to look up. Standing just at the edge of the clearing was someone he knew well. A boy about his own age, with shorter, but just as wild brown hair, red triangles on his cheeks, somewhat tougher features, but the same canine ears and tail, though his fur was grayish and his tail was longer and somewhat less bushy, more like a wolves tail then a fox's.

"Hey Kiba, what's up? Anything interesting happen?"

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Nothing major. Lee and Garra are at it again, insulting each other like crazy. Chouji wanted me to get you to come and break it up, before things start getting out of hand."

Naruto smiled and flipped onto his feet, "Sounds more interesting then what I'm doing here." He said with a grin, "Let's go."

Naruto grabbed his red undershirt and dark jacket, slipped them on and began began dashing through the forest with Kiba.

"You heard the rumors about that talented group of hunters coming up our way?" Kiba asked as they ran.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but who cares? If they're reasonable we won't ever have to deal with them. If they're unreasonable, well send them packing like we always do. Heck, I could use a little fun. When was the time a group of hunters came up here?"

Kiba grinned a feral, toothy grin, "I agree, but some of the others are less thrilled. They are saying that the leader can take B-rankers. That tends to get people worried."

Naruto shrugged, "By others, you mean Ino and Choji right? If the hunter is that skilled, well that just makes it more fun for me. It's not like I'll let him get anywhere near my pack."

"Ha!, Just save some fun for the rest of us. Being the pack Alpha doesn't give you the right to fight everyone yourself. I've been achin for a good brawl myself."

Naruto smiled and nodded his agreement to his friend, "Just don't get yourself caught like last time." he said in a slightly mocking but still friendly voice.

Naruto laughed as Kiba began yelling out objections to his insinuation.

* * *

Haruno Sakura marched through the forest paths, a look of determination on her beautiful face. Her walk was strong and proud. Her clothes were designed for ease and efficiency in combat, from her slim pants to her sleeveless vest, heavy boots, and fingerless gloves. At her belt she carried multiple knives, a pair of scrolls, and a small satchel of smoke bombs. Attached to her back was a large cleaving sword which looked far too heavy for such a slim girl to even be carrying, much less swinging about. Even her bright pink hair couldn't hide the obvious fact that this was a serious and dangerous woman.

Behind her walked a small group of warriors, all geared similarly to herself, though with numerous variations. They all held the same aura of strength and determination, and they all seemed to defer to her as their leader.

From near the front of the group, a tall boy with long hair and bizarre, white (or perhaps simply very light grey) pupil-less eyes sped up his pace until he was walking beside her.

"Are you sure that Hinata is ready for this?" The boy whispered.

Sakura gave an understanding smile, "Neji, you know that you can't shelter her for the rest of her life. This is a dangerous job, I know. We haven't ever gone after an entire group of demons with her along before. But we'll all be there, and if anything happens, we'll protect her. You know that, right?"

Neji sighed and turned his head back to take a look at one of the other hunters who was second to the rear. She shared Neji's strange eyes, but was clearly younger, no more then 14. Quite frankly, although she was also heavily armed, with knives and scrolls on her belt and combat clothing, she didn't really look like she belonged. Her features were soft and she appeared to be unsure of herself, clasping her hands in front of her. A much more confidant looking, older girl with tight hair buns and who was carrying more weapons then the rest of the group combined, had her hand placed on Hinata's shoulder, obviously trying to perk the younger girl up.

"It's just..." Neji continued, "This is a big step for her. I don't want her to be overwhelmed. She is talented and wants to be a part of this, but doesn't have any confidence in herself."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Of course she doesn't. Any time she's ever failed at anything, her big brother has always been there to fix it for her. Now she thinks that she can't do anything and you can do anything."

Neji gave a short, curt laugh, "You're saying I shouldn't baby her anymore." He sighed in a way that showed that he wasn't committing to any particular course of action, "Anyway, whats the deal with this mark again?"

Sakura turned her head back to the group. "TAMARI!" She called out. Another girl, this one tough looking with three short ponytails looked up. "Toss me that scroll will ya!"

The other girl un-slung her traveling pack and took out a scroll, wordlessly tossing it to Sakura.

The pink haired hunter undid the thin ribbon which held the scroll together and unrolled it, "There's a small village up around here somewhere called Konoha. Really small, not much in the way of self defense against demons, or even common bandits. Apparently, they've been lucky enough to avoid any unpleasant run-ins with anything dangerous up until this point. But about a week ago, wandering coven showed up in the surrounding forests." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Three people have shown up dead so far."

She said this last bit with equal parts anger and sadness. She hated demons, more then anything. They were killers all, indiscriminate, and heartless. She could still remember the day when...but no, there was no point dwelling on that now. That was in the past, and there were three dead people in the hear and now who needed justice. And she would make sure that they got it.

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Naruto sighed. He always hated watching his family fight. But they were all strong personalities, and they were bound to clash occasionally. 90% of the time it was Lee as well. Sometimes he felt the need to pick a fight with Sasuke, sometimes it was Kiba, every once in a blue moon he even started something with Chouji.

Today it was Garra.

"YOU SIR, HAVE INSULTED MY GLORIOUS HONOR! NOW YOU MUST PREPARE TO MEET ME ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE!"

Garra, as usual, showed less emotion then a carved stone statue.

"Don't be ridiculous. You know that in a battle I would destroy you. Besides, you're overreacting. All I said was that you scared that village girl away with your insane antics."

Naruto could see a vain bulging just above one of Lee's freakishly enormous eyebrows, his long prehensile tail twisting about in anger.

"Look guys," The young kitsune said, "If you want to duke it out, fine, but take it somewhere where you won't be trashing everyone's houses."

Garra turned his head slightly to glance at his leader, "I don't care what this fool wants. Let him go blow off his steam on someone else. I'm not in the mood to teach him a lesson right now."

This was too much for Lee. In the blink of an eye, he went from one end of the room, to right on top of them, one of his legs shooting out toward Garra's head, screeching like the monkey that he partially was. Before he could come anywhere close of course, his attack was intercepted by a dense wall of shifting sand which had flown out of the enormous gourd on Garra's back. With increadible speed, Lee struck again and again, each time being effortlessly blocked by Garra's sand shield.

Naruto moved even faster then Lee, appearing behind the monkey berserker, grabbing him from behind and slamming him into the ground, "Calm down Lee. You know that Garra can be blunt."

Lee rubbed the back of his head and grimaced in pain, "I appologize Naruto-sama. But such an offence cannot go unchallenged."

Garra scoffed, "Don't be so melodramatic. It's unbecoming of a B-ranked demon."

Naruto rolled his eyes, as Lee's face turned tomato red with rage, "Lee, is it possible that you are only angry because the human girl ran away from you, and you want to take it out on Garra?"

Lee's angry face slowly transformed into one of shame and dejection. He turned his head to look at his hands and bare feet. Most of his body was human in form, but his hands and feet were both those of and ape. Along with his long monkey tail and heavy brown eyebrows and sideburns, Lee looked the most animal-like of the entire pack.

"People always run from me." Lee spoke, almost as a whisper.

Garra rolled his eyes, "Why don't you just change into a 100% human form like the rest of us do when we go into the village?"

Naruto glared at Garra, "That isn't fair and you know it." The words didn't need to be spoken, but it was common knowledge among the pack that Lee, for some reason, was incapable of holding a total human form like the rest of them could. The pack used a mostly human form when away from the village for convenience, but kept certain animal features out of a sense of pride, only transforming into a full human form when conversing with humans. But no matter how hard he tried, Lee couldn't get rid of all of his monkey qualities.

Lee shook his head, "No, Naruto-sama. Garra-san is correct. My failing is a weakness, and I must work hard to overcome it." Lee took a deep breath and clenched his hand into a fist, "I SHALL APPLY MYSELF RIGOROUSLY TO MY TRAINING IN ORDER TO HOLD A TOTAL HUMAN FOOOOOOORM!" He yelled out, more to the heavens then to anyone else around before abruptly swiveling around on spot and dashing off into the forest treetops.

Naruto sighed and turned back to his tanuki demon friend, "You didn't have to do that." he grumbled, "Now he's going to go off into the forest for about a week before totally exhausting himself and crawling back here on his knees. Then he'll have to stay in Chouji's healing hut for another day recovering, before finally spending another week moping around because he won't have made any progress.

Garra shrugged, "And after that he'll return to his typical boisterous self without so much as another thought. Don't worry so much. The fool will be fine."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and gave a light growl of aggravation, "Just don't be such a jerk in the future will ya." he growled before turning away.

Naruto began walking towards his own home, a large den in the mountain-side, well hidden from the humans, when he sensed another presence hidden in the shadows behind a large oak tree.

"You have something to say Sasuke?" he asked, turning his head to grin at his closest friend and second in command, "You don't hide yourself as well as you think you do."

A dark haired figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows, almost totally human in form at first appearance, though if one looked closer they could see a patch of snakeskin on his arms, almost totally covered by the sleeves of his kimono. His mouth twisted into a snide grin and one could see two freakishly long serpent fangs in his mouth alongside his more human teeth.

"I have to say I agree with Garra on this one. That Lee is a moron and if he doesn't get his transformation to work, he's going to blow our cover here...again."

Naruto glared at Sasuke. The guy was his friend, but he could be callous at times, "He works harder then you do. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that."

Sasuke shrugged, "And yet, I am the A-ranked serpent demon, while he is still stuck a a B-ranked monkey. He can work all he wants, he'll never be as strong as true geniuses like us."

Naruto twisted his head away in anger. Genius? If only Sasuke knew. But no, that was in the past. All that mattered today was that he knew that Lee could improve through constant hard work. He believed in him. He had seen people like him change themselves through incredible effort before, and he believed that Lee could do it as well. He was going to make sure that it happened.

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Well, there is chapter 1 of my new story, "Of Demons and Lovers". I hope that it is well received. Because this is an AU story, I thought that my readers might benefit from a sort of lexicon so as that they know how this particular world works.

So, here are some terms to know,

_**Demon:**_A being of great power, almost always the enemy of mankind. The amount of raw spiritual power that demons are capable of generating are far more potent then anything humans could dream of. Most demons are based on a specific animal such as a fox, wolf, snake, falcon, ect. They have two "total" forms, a total human form, where they are indistinguishable from humans, and a total beast form, where they appear as large and powerful variations of the animal which they take after. They are also capable of transforming specific parts of their bodies, such as their hands or eyes, to one form, while keeping the rest in the other. Usually this means that they adapt certain small beast qualities, such as claws or ears, even while in human form. In fact, it is rare for a demon to ever change totally to one form or the other. For the most part they only become full human if they are trying to remain undetected by humans, and even then they retain certain unnoticable qualities of the beast, such as advanced senses and reflexes. Because of the convenience of a human body, they usually don't change into total beast form unless pushed to in the heat of combat.

Most different types of demons have common characteristics which suit the beast which they are based upon. Fox demons are known as playful in nature (with one extremely notable exception), dog and wolf demons are loyal, though in different ways. Monkey demons are known to be quirky and kooky. Snake demons are cunning and untrustworthy. Rabbit demons are amorous. Ect. Although a demon's diet does not exactly reflect their beast form, if the beast is a predator, they will almost certainly be as well, while if the animal is a vegetarian, so will be the demon.

Demons are ranked on a scale of power, F, E, D, C, B, A, or S. F ranked demons are barely stronger then animals and an ordinary human could kill one. S ranked are powerful enough to destroy entire forests and mountains in a single surge of power. The power is scaled exponentially, where a demon of each level is generally ten times as strong as the level which preceded it, and one tenth as strong as the one after it. Generally, with a few exceptions, a demon does not acquire the ability to take a human form until they are at least ranked C. The world is divided evenly into 5 great demon kingdoms, each of which is ruled by an S ranked demon (the only S ranked demons in existence) who hold power of all of the lesser demons in their realms. These are the Great Nine-Tailed Fox: Kyuubi, the Benevolent Sage Toad Master: Jirayia, the Ruthless Eight-Headed Serpent: Orochi, the Noble Warrior Dog Guardian: Sakumo, and the Terrible Falcon of the Red Clouds: Madara.

**_Demon Hunter: _**Demons are dangerous to people, often killing off entire villages either for sport or food. To protect the ordinary people, some great warriors have taken up the cause of being a demon hunter. These warriors come from all walks of life, some having been samurai or ninja before becoming hunters, some having been simple farmers. It is the job of a hunter to travel throughout the land, vanquishing demons wherever they go. They do this through many different uses, charmed weapons, special bloodline abilities, special training, and even simply incredible skill. Some are swordsmen orother weapon specialists, others are holy monks and priests. All are thought to use a special spiritual energy within their bodies called chakra, in order to increase their normally human bodies to the levels needed to match their demon foes.

Like demons, hunters are ranked F to S, however while demons are ranked based on how much destruction they are capable of, hunters are ranked based on the strongest level of demon that they are able to kill, one-on-one. If a hunter succeeds in killing a C ranked demon, but is incapable of handling a B ranked demon, then they are a C class hunter.

It was hunters which created the F to S ranking system for demons and hunters, but many intelligent demons have also adapted the system for their own use.

To this day there has been only one S ranked hunter in history, the legendary Flying Thunder God who matched Kyuubi is single combat. His name was Minato.

**_Samurai:_**Foot soldiers of the human kingdoms, who combat each other with katana swords. Although talented by human standards, they have no knowledge of chakra and as such cannot handle the more powerful demons. At most, a Samurai who has not had special training will be able to slay a D ranked demon, and even that is only the best of the best.

**_Bloodline limit:_**Some human families, such as the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, are have remarkable powers which run only within that family. The humans claim that these powers were a gift from Kami in to defend themselves against demons. Demons claim that the powers were given to the humans by the ancient demons of old as gifts for services, back when all humans were slaves to the more supreme race.

**_F rank:_** An F ranked demon is usually small, cannot transform into a human form, and is no more dangerous then any ordinary animal. An ordinary, non-trained human could kill one. A hunter who can only kill this rank of demon is also called F class. As such, most humans are technically capable of being F class hunters.

**_E rank:_**An E ranked demon is larger, more dangerous, and more intelligent. It is rare that an normal human can kill one, but a Samurai can usually get the job done. They often have basic special powers, such as enhanced senses or strength. An E class hunter can kill these demons. An example of an E class hunter would be Hyuuga Hinata.

**_D rank:_**A D ranked demon is significantly more powerful, often capable of destroying buildings and killing large groups of unarmed humans. A team of 3 or more Samurai is usually needed to slay one, although some of the most skilled Samurai in existence may be capable of slaying one alone. Demons from a particularly powerful clan, such as the Fox, Wolf, or Tiger, is usually a D ranked demon even at birth, and they are usually capable of some low level elemental control, such as shooting small fireballs from their mouths. A D class hunter is capable of killing these demons.

**_C rank:_**A C ranked demon is more powerful still. They are capable of destruction on a higher level, such as ravaging and entire village. They are reasonably rare, outside of the large clans. A demon must also usually be C ranked before they are capable of transformation into a human form, and must be able to make this transformation before they they are truly considered a rank C (the exception to this is Rabbit demons, who are capable of transforming at birth, and Rock Lee, who is powerful enough to be considered a B rank, but for reasons unknown, cannot maintain a full human transformation). Some examples of C ranked demons are the Rabbit demon Ino and the Butterfly demon Chouji. Some examples of C class hunters are Tenten and Nara Shikamaru (although Shikamaru is borderline with class B).

**_B rank:_**A B ranked demon is significantly more powerful then most. B ranked demons are capable of taking apart entire large villages, can often destroy trees and large boulders through sheer strength alone, and are known to down groups of as many as 100 samurai, alone. B ranked demons are very rare, and it is even rarer to encounter B class hunters. Kiba and Rock Lee are prime examples of B ranked demons, and Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, Aburame Shino, Temari, and Kankuro are all excellent examples of B class hunters (although some might say that Sakura is held back from A class only by a technicality).

**_A rank:_**An A ranked demon is exceedingly powerful, capable of taking on entire armies of 1000 or more samurai alone. They are capable of refined and large scale elemental manipulation, and can leave entire large cities burning in their wake. Generally, they are the best that there is and there are less then 50 A ranked demons in the entire world on record. Naruto no Kitsune is an A ranked demon, as are his companions the Snake demon Sasuke and the Tanuki demon Garra. Sakura's teacher, the great lady Tsunade, is an A class hunter, and there are very few others, such as the famed Uchiha Itachi and the legendary Senju warrior.

**_S rank:_**An S ranked demon has power which is nearly possible to fathom. With a single surge of power they are capable of burning down entire forests, crushing mountains, creating tidal waves or enormous lightning storms, and more. No army in existence is powerful enough to stand up to an S ranked demon. Thankfully, there are only five in existence, and each of them rule of the the 5 great demon kingdoms that this world is split into, Kyuubi, Jirayia, Orochi, Sakumo, and Madara, and there are no humans alive who know these monster's true human forms. There has only ever been one S class hunter, Minato the Flying Thunder God, who matched Kyuubi and survived. It is also worth noting that the Toad demons are the only demons in existence which are known to be kind to humans, and Minato was once great friends with Jirayia.


	2. Chapter2:Fateful Meetings,Bloody Battles

Disclaimer: Hello. my name is Inigo Montoya. I don't own Naruto. Prepare to die.

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_**Chapter 2: Fateful Meetings, Bloody Battles

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Rock Lee slammed his foot into the ground, his inner force bubbling up with incredible strength as he tried to force his body to transform into a human shape. His body shook as he tried to pull in his own strength. His mouth broke into a grin as he saw the hair on his hands and feet begin to recede into his skin. He could see his toes changing shape, his foot becoming flatter as his toes shrunk and his foot thumbs lost their opposable quality.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. A moment before he could feel his human form solidifying, he lost control of his energy and felt it explode outward. The resulting shock-wave sent it's owner hurling backwards into a nearby tree. Lee groaned as he pulled himself into a sitting position and looked down at his hands. They were as hairy as they had ever been. The backlash had caused him to revert to a full monkey form. Lee flipped onto all fours, supported by his knuckles, and began to slowly revert himself as far back into his human form as he could, his back straightening as he pulled himself along in his transformation as far as he was able to.

Lee sighed as he looked at his now human shaped, but still very hairy, hands, "No matter," he said to himself, "I shall master this skill yet!"

"AND IF I FAIL!" he screamed to the heavens, "THEN I SHALL PUNISH MYSELF WITH 300 LAPS AROUND THE HUMAN VILLAGE ON MY HANDS!"

Before he could try again however, his enhanced hearing caught the sound of a group of people, walking across the road to the village, nearly 100 yards away.

"Huh. how interesting. Could it be that they are here already?"

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata held her arms crossed over her chest and stared at the ground as she walked down the bumpy dirt road. Her teammate, Tenten, was walking beside her, chatting on about something or another. Hinata had to admit that she wasn't really paying any attention. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts. It still hung on her mind, that last mission, just like all the others. It was nothing too dangerous really, a simple D ranked goat sort of thing, something which should have been easy to handle for even the most inept of hunters.

Yet she had completely failed. She had it, alone, and was utterly beaten down. If Neji hadn't shown up in time, she felt certain that she would be dead right now. She was a failure to the team. Everyone else on the team was a C class hunter or higher, but even after all these years, she was still stuck as an E class, and quite frankly, the only reason that she was even that was because of her Byakugan.

"...eally think that if you applied yourself more, you could really start to improve as far as your skills are concerned." She caught at the end of Tenten's words.

"Huh? Oh...yes, I suppose."

Tenten sighed, "You weren't even listening, were you?"

Hinata turned her face away guiltily, "Yes, I was...or...I was trying to. I'm just feeling a little preoccupied right now."

"Hinata..." Tenten sighed, "You know that wasn't your fault." she spoke, referring to the previous mission, "You could have taken that billy-goat on an ordinary day, he just caught you off-guard."

Hinata's face scrunched up in shame. That was untrue. She had seen the creature coming. Regardless of her own lack of talent, no one could sneak up on the Byakugan. Neji had lied to the rest of the group so as that Hinata might not be so humiliated.

"I'm not good enough to be a part of this team." Hinata said with a sigh.

"Hinata that isn't true!" Tenten hissed at her, shocked, "You're just less experienced! You'll become better with time."

Hinata didn't think so. She had been doing this just as long as Neji had, and he was worlds ahead of her. Even if she became 10 times stronger then she was now, or even 100 times stronger, she wouldn't be anywhere close to Neji's level. She appreciated Tenten's attempts to make her feel better, but she knew good and well that the only reason that she was even allowed into this group was because Neji wouldn't go anywhere without her, and his skills were invaluable to such a group. She knew it, Tenten knew it (even if she was going to try to deny it to make Hinata feel better), Sakura knew it, everyone knew it. She was totally dependant on Neji. She always had been, and probably always would be, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

She was about to tell Tenten exactly that when Sakura's voice called out to the team, "WE'RE HERE!"

Hinata looked up to see Sakura standing atop a hill ahead of them. She couldn't see the village yet behind the hill, so she focused energy into her eyes, causing the veins around them to bulge out and activating her Byakugan eyes. Using her bloodline limit, she could look directly through the earth of the hill and see the village below. It was surprisingly small, dotted here and there with conical straw and wood houses, and she could see people walking among them, some talking, others carrying large bags of what looked like vegetables and rice. There couldn't possibly be more then a few dozen families in such a small village, and Hinata found herself wondering how such a tiny and defenceless place could possibly have managed to avoid any demon attacks up until now.

Hinata turned her attention back to Sakura, who was still speaking, "When we enter the village, we're going to have to start gathering information. The request for aid didn't make any specifications as to what kind or how powerful these demons are. All we know is that they are a full coven, and not one which is noted in the Bingo book, which in my experience almost certainly means that they are a group of mostly weaker demons ruled by a single stronger one, likely either C or possibly B ranked. However, it is a fool who goes in assuming a weak enemy without prior knowl-"

Sakura was interrupted by the quiet swish of a metal knife flying through the air, she pulled he head back and opened her eyes in shock as she saw a kunai fly within inches of her face. Immediately she heard a dull thud and what sounded like a high-pitched shriek from the direction of the trees. She turned her head to stare at Neji, standing next to her, his hand outstretched from the kunai which he had just thrown.

* * *

Rock Lee screeched his shrill, monkey screech as he hit the ground, the hunter's knife lodged in his shoulder. It would have been in the dead center of his head as well, if he hadn't anticipated the attack and moved out of the way in time. From so far away, the hunter had phenomenal accuracy with his throwing knives. Lee pushed himself into a sitting position and looked down at the blade sticking out of his shoulder. Angrily, he grabbed onto the blade's handle and wrenched it out, causing a second spasm of pain to shoot through his arm. The would was bleeding heavily, but he would recover soon enough.

Sighing, Lee looked up to an unusual sight. He appeared to be surrounded. No less then seven...no...eight, humans stood around him in a circle, one which he didn't notice at first because she appeared to be hiding behind the same long-haired boy who had hit him with the throwing knife. They all, other then the timid one, looked prepared for combat.

"Greetings, Hunters!" Lee said with his typical enthusiasm, "I admit myself surprised to see you here. Kiba-san's intel said that you would not arive in Konoha for another 3 days at least."

As he had anticipated, the group of hunters looked to be surprised by his reaction. He wasn't sure why people reacted to him the way that they did, but they always did.

The long-haired knife thrower took a step forward, his face contorted into an expression of rage. The boy pulled his hand back as though to throw a punch, though rather then curl his hand into a complete fist, he left his pointer and middle finger extended, "You must be one of the filthy demons who have been terrorizing this village."

Lee raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure what Neji was referring to. But experience told him that if he tried to talk things out, he was just going to make things worse. Better to let Naruto handle things later.

"I must ask, noble hunter, how it was that you were able to spy my location from such a great distance. I was quite sure that I was well hidden. Is it possible that I need more stealth training?"

Long-hair's mouth twisted upward into a smirk, "There is no being on earth can can hide from my Byakugan."

Lee's eyes lit up in comprehension, "Ah, yes! I didn't recognize the mighty Byakugan bloodline power at first! How wondrous the gifts given to the humans by the Ancient Ones are!"

"That's a lie!" Long-hair hissed, his eyes flashing with rage, "My Bloodline Limit was a gift from Kami-sama himself! Not from any filthy demon!"

Lee shrugged with apathy. He knew very well that the humans and demons told a different history in many respects. Demons claimed that, in olden times, humans had been loyal slaves to the mighty demons who ruled over the earth, and as a reward for their loyalty, the demons had gifted the strongest of the human clans with great power. Of course, the humans, arrogant as they were, used these powers to revolt against their rightful masters and try to take control of the ancient kingdoms themselves. The human version of the story was significantly different. The humans claimed that the evil but more powerful demons had enslaved them in ancient times, and it was the great Kami-sama, who greatly preferred humanity, who had given them these gifts in order to defend themselves. They revolted and fought the demons for their freedom, which they eventually won.

Quite frankly, Lee wasn't sure that he bought either story.

"Don't let him get to you Neji," the pink-haired girl with the enormous sword strapped to her back spoke, "and don't kill him yet. Incapacitate him and take him alive so that we can force him to lead us back to his coven."

The long-haired boy, Neji, nodded to the girl and made a move towards Lee. Before he could attack, Lee hopped back onto his feet with lightning reflexes and slammed his foot into the hunter's gut, sending him flying back and slamming into a tree. Instantly, four more of the group attacked, but before any of them could land a hit, Lee had jumped into the hanging branches of the forest and dashed away.

Neji gingerly picked himself up and rubbed the back of his head, which had slammed into the tree.

"I'm sorry Sakura. I underestimated him."

Sakura shrugged, "It's not that big of a deal." she replied, before shifting her attention to one of the members who did not attacked, a quiet boy with a heavy, high-collared coat and dark sunglasses, "Were you able to get a tracing bug on him Shino?"

The hunter named Aburame Shino seemed to smile, though it was difficult to tell behind his collar, and held up his hand, palm foreward, a tiny black insect crawling across it.

"Of course." he replied.

* * *

Lee leaped from treetop to treetop, moving towards home as fast as he possibly could. With any luck, he had lost the hunters in his initial burst of speed and they wouldn't be able to pick up his trail for a while. At least until he could find Naruto and let him know that the hunters were so far ahead of schedule.

After a few minutes, Lee saw a figure walking through the forest ahead of him, and came to a screeching halt a moment before he slammed into him.

Kiba's eyes opened wide in shock and he fell onto his rear as Lee suddenly appeared less then an in front of him, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, YOU CRAZY MONKEY! GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!"

Lee stood straight as an arrow and glanced down at his stunned friend, "KIBA-SAN! We must go and find Naruto-sama! The hunters are here earlier then expected and we must be prepared for pitched combaaaaaaat!"

Kiba seemed too stunned to speak for just a moment, then jumped to his feet, "That...that can't be. My sources have never been wrong in the past. I trust Hana absolutely."

Lee shook his head, "I do not know what has occurred to speed up their arrival, but I assure you that they are here."

Kiba turned his head away, an unsure look on his face. Suddenly however, his nose twitched and his eyes opened wide in shock, "What is that smell?" he asked.

Lee raised an enormous, bushy eyebrow, confused, "What smell are you talking about?" He took a sniff of the air, but couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary. Of course Kiba's sense of smell was even stronger then Naruto's, and at least 20 times stronger then Lee's own.

Without answering, Kiba's hand flashed out and grabbed at something in Lee's hair, behind his right ear. Trapped between two of Kiba's long curved claws was a tiny black insect, struggling fruitlessly.

"A tracer bug," Kiba snarled, "I've seen this before. It's a signature technique of the Aburame clan. I guess you weren't kidding." With a tiny crunch, Kiba squished the bug between his fingers, "That should buy us some time. Let's go inform Naruto."

"That is what I have been saying this entire time! Now let us go!"

* * *

Shino sighed as he stooped down to examine the minuscule remains of one of his prized insects, smeared against one of the forests thousands of trees. Tracers were more difficult to raise, and even in a nest of 100 eggs were uncommon. It annoyed him that this one was so senselessly killed.

"Can you still find them?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," Shino replied, "the pheromones are still on the monkey. But it will be harder, and take longer."

"I have to ask Sakura," Spoke the long and lanky boy with the short black ponytail, Shikamaru, "why are we going after these guys now? It seems too troublesome to me. You said yourself that it would be better to gather information first. Shouldn't we be going into the village?"

"Normally, yes." Sakura replied, "But this is far too good of an opportunity to pass up. Ordinarily, we would have to set a trap and ambush our quarry, but this demon can lead us right into their nest. And besides that, we did get a decent bit of info, just from that meeting. We know that our enemies are monkey demons, quick and wild, but without much in the way of special abilities, and usually naive and easily tricked, but fond of games. If we get in over our heads, we can always retreat and come back better prepared. If nothing else, this is a good chance to find out what we're up against."

Shikamaru shrugged, "Whatever. I was just looking forward to a nice warm bed and a real meal tonight."

"Don't be such a baby," the man with the strange, hooded black suit and the face-paint, Kankuro, said, "If you want good service, then it's better to wait until we slaughter these demons anyway. We'll be treated like heroes when we get back."

Temari, Kankuro's sister, rolled her eyes, "Is that all you care about?" she asked, "Let's just get this over with."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. There was a time when he had liked Temari, even cared for her, but that seemed to be so long ago. He had been more adventurous then, and she had been less cold. It had been happier times, before their lives had changed. Before Temari had followed her brother into the business and become a demon hunter, and he, being the romantic that he had been so long ago, had tried to follow her. It hadn't worked, but by the time he had realized that, he had already become accustomed to the life. Whatever. You have to deal the hand that your delt. But even today, 2 years later, he could still be astounded by how much his one-time companion had changed. How callous and cold she could be.

He was snapped out of his musings by Sakura's voice, still speaking with Shino, "So how long will it take us to reach their nest?" She asked.

Shino shrugged, "If I'm estimating the distance correctly, around 20 minutes or so." He leaned in close and whispered something in Sakura's ear that Shikamaru was only just able to catch, "10 if we left Hinata behind."

Sakura glared at him, "We're not leaving anyone behind." She retorted in the same hushed voice, then turned away in a manner that clearly stated that this conversation was over, "Let's go everyone!" she called out, and dashed off with impressive speed in the direction of the fleeing monkey demon.

* * *

Naruto turned his head to Lee, "Are you sure that they were right behind you?" he asked, his voice slightly impatient.

Lee nodded, "Yes indeed. I didn't realize that the bug had been placed on me until halfway back. Even if they couldn't continue to follow me, they should be able to guess my general direction. They'll be here soon."

Naruto nodded and turned his head back to the enormous clearing. It was the perfect place for a small scale war in the middle of the forest, where he could keep an eye on all of his pack, just in case. Naruto felt his eyes roll over each member of his pack, stopping for a moment to gaze at each individual member.

Kiba was as he ever was, hyper and eager for excitement, all wrapped up in a calm, collected image. His eyes always gave him away though. Kiba could never keep his emotions out of his eyes like some of the others could.

Lee was similarly excited, though Naruto suspected that it was more at the prospect of a great new way to test his strength then it was the thrill of adventure. Lee's monkey legs were practically shaking with anticipation, and his tail was whipping all over the place.

Ino, a rabbit demon, was more reserved, more worried. Naruto didn't blame her. Out of all of them, only Chouji was possibly weaker then her, both of them being C ranked demons. She wasn't really the kind who was built for fighting. One of her two rabbit ears bent down to cover her face, trying in vain to hide her worry.

Chouji himself was stuffing his round face with Kyuubi-knows-what. Naruto knew that this was his way of dealing with his own stress and wasn't all that worried about it. Like Sasuke, Chouji had very little distinguishing features of his demonic heritage, only a few areas around his arms and legs where his skin had a ringed, bumpy texture, like that of a caterpillar.

Garra was stoic and silent as ever. Except for the occasional flick of his eyes, the Tanuki demon could have been mistaken for a statue. For as good as Naruto was at reading people, he could never really tell what mood Garra was in without speaking to him. The Tanuki could have been bored to death or brimming with excitement for all he knew.

As for Sasuke himself...Sasuke was not here. He had opted out of this fight, stating that it wouldn't be worth his time...

_"Even the leader is nothing more then a B ranked hunter right?" Sasuke asked, "Why should I waste my time with such weaklings?"_

_Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You really need to stop being so arrogant. Sure, we could beat these guys without you, but what would you do if one of the weaker guys, like Ino or Chouji, get hurt because you weren't there?"_

_Sasuke shrugged apathetically, "If they're too weak to protect themselves, then they deserve whatever they get. Why should I waste my time on them?"_

_"Ino really likes you, ya know. It would really hurt her to know that you don't even care if she gets hurt."_

_Sasuke laughed harshly, "Ino really likes everyone at some point or another. It's in her nature. She's a rabbit demon. She's horny." Sasuke smirked and looked at Naruto knowingly, "I seem to recall that when she first joined up, it was you who she was after. That didn't last either."_

_Naruto turned his head away. Honestly, he couldn't deny what Sasuke said. Still, it sounded extremely harsh, "I'm not going to make you fight with us, but I also won't make the others respect you for what you do."_

_Sasuke shruged, "Ill pass."_

Naruto was snapped out of his reminiscing by the sound of footsteps walking though the forest floor. He turned his head up to see a group of people emerging from the shadows of the trees, led by a girl with pink hair who, in human years, looked like she might be somewhere around 16-17. He was surprised at this. He had honestly expected a man. In his experience, humans could be picky about such things as that. He was also surprised at just how beautiful she was, especially her bright green eyes.

By the look on the girl's face, she was surprised as well. Were they not what she expected? Naruto decided that the best thing to do would be to talk first.

"What's with the weird look hunter? You seem surprised." he grinned his famously charming grin and flicked his fox tail.

Sakura Haruno slowly shook her head, "What is this?" she asked, "You're not a monkey demon."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at his tail, then glanced at his clawed hands, "Not the last time I checked, no."

Sakura's eyes flashed to Lee, who was grinning with goofiness and waving at her and her team. She ignored him, "I've never heard of two different kinds of demons in the same group."

Naruto nodded, "I get it. You met Lee and figured we must all be monkey demons. No, we're different from the norm. A family of demons who are all different, yet all the same."

Sakura glared at him, "It doesn't matter." She reached up to the two foot long sword handle that stuck out above her shoulder, and flipped the enormous cleaver-like blade over and into a fighting stance. Naruto was shocked that she seemed to be strong enough to wield the enormous chunk of metal in a single, steady hand, "You are still a murdering demon, and I will still end you."

Naruto sighed, "Is there any way that I can convince you otherwise? There have been a lot of hunters who have shown up on our doorsteps over the years, and the result is always the same. Either they're stubborn and try to fight, and we send them back to the village, beaten and bloody, or else they're smart enough to realize that we don't need to fight and leave peacefully. Are you going to be stubborn or smart?" He grinned at his own question.

"I am a demon hunter." Sakura replied, "It is my sworn duty to rid the world of monsters like you. You think that you can decieve me into turning away. You are evil, just like every other one of your kind."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "So self-righteous. Before you attack, perhaps you can at least tell me why you think we are so evil. What is the reason for believing that all demons are evil?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed in hatred, "The fact that you are demons is reason enough! I have slayed hundreds of you and every single one of you has proved me right. But if you need a personal reason, think about the three villagers who you and your group killed!"

Naruto's eyes opened wide is surprise, "Three dead villagers? I don't know anything about that." Naruto turned his head down as he wondered, if this were true, why the villagers hadn't come to him for help?

Turning his head away was a big mistake. Naruto heard the tell-tale swish of metal flying through air, and instinctively jumped backward, but not enough. With incredible speed for a human, Sakura had appeared before him and her sword, huge enough to cleave clear through 5 men in one slice, had grazed his chest, painting the ground before him with demon blood.

"DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!" Sakura yelled, her forehead furrowed in anger, "THE VILLAGERS WERE KILLED BY A DEMON, AND YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!"

She swung her blade at him again, horizontally, but he was prepared now and jumped over the arc of the blade, slamming his foot into her face and sending her flying back into the ground, "If you aren't going to listen to reason," Naruto spoke as he looked down at her, his eyes now deep crimson with slit-like pupils, "then we have nothing more to talk about."

"ATTACK!"

* * *

Garra reacted faster then any of the other warriors could see, the cork to his sand gourd suddenly appearing in his hand while a tidal wave of tan granules flew from the gourd's core to wash the hunters away. Most of the foe were sent flying back by his attack, but two of the hunters managed to jump over his wave of sand, sailing through the air to land a few feet away from him at either side.

Without any warning or banter, the first of the two, a female with blond hair who wielded an enormous fan, attacked, sending a gust of high pressure wind at him from her fan. Before the blast could reach him, Garra waved his hand and his sand reformed into a shell around himself, protecting him from the blast. He flicked his finger towards the girl and a large tendril of sand shot after her.

A moment before the sand reached her however, a second figure jumped in-between her and the tendril, causing his sand to engulf him instead. Garra turned his head around and saw that the other hunter, hooded, with face-paint, hadn't moved from his spot, but had his hands outstretched, his fingers slowly twisting in strange patters. Garra squinted to see if there was anything that he was missing and was able to see a set of barely perceptible strings leading to the figure that Garra's sand had just engulfed.

Fantastic. A puppetmaster. Garra had always hated them.

The female dashed up to him, a knife in hand, and began slashing at him, over and over again, as fast as she could. Garra didn't move an inch, simply letting his wall of sand jump in-between each of her strikes. He heard a light crashing sound and turned his head to see the puppet fighting it's way out of his sand. The object was really quite hideous, with four segmented arms, three eyes (why, Garra had no idea), and hair like a rat's nest. With a shift of it's master's arms, the puppet flew toward Garra and began adding it's own attacks to Temari's onslaught, in the form of knives concealed within it's arms. With hardly any more effort, Garra shifted his sand shield to shift between both sets of attacks.

"This is pathetic," Garra whispered, a hint of annoyence entering his voice, "Back off."

His sand exploded outward, slamming into the female and the puppet and sending them flying backwards. Garra watched emotionless for a moment as the female coughed up a small splat of blood, then, convinced that she was out of the battle for a moment, shifted his gaze to the puppet, which appeared to be damaged significantly as well, before turning to the hooded, face-painted hunter. Garra's eyes narrowed and the hunter gulped as drew a kunai of his own.

* * *

Lee twisted out of the way of another of Neji's attacks and lashed out with his foot. Neji in turn deflected Lee's move and made to jab one of his strange two finger attacks into Lee's leg. Lee deflected this attack, and Neji deflected his own next attack. They went back and forth like this for quite a while, two hand-to-hand masters fighting at their best.

A bead of sweat rolled down Tenten's forehead as she held a pair of large shuriken in her hands, desperately looking for an opening to attack, but it was impossible. The two were twisting and circling around each other so quickly that she would be just as likely to hit Neji as the monkey demon. She wasn't going to be able to help at long range. She wasn't at Neji's level, nor would she likely ever be, but if she was going to help, she would have to enter the fray herself.

Suddenly, her descision was made for her as Lee landed a devistating blow on Neji's jaw, sending him flying back.

"NEJI!" Tenten called out in shock, and she charged at the monkey demon, kunai in her hands. She had always been fond of Neji, perhaps more then what was professionally acceptable. That was why she had originally made the effort to be nice to Hinata, because she knew that Neji would never accept anybody who wasn't good to her (of course that was a long time ago, and since then she had genuinely come to care for the younger girl). Now, to see Neji being attacked was unbearable to her.

She swung her kunai at Lee's head, who crossed his arms behind his back and ducked out of the way. Again and again she attacked, but her blades never met anything but air. Worse, the monkey demon had the gall to smile at her the whole time! Not an arrogant smirk, or an attempt to get a rise out of her, that kind of smile she was used to. No, this was simply a pleasant smile, as though he were enjoying a spar with a friend. It was infuriating!

"Your movements are good," the monkey said, "But you need more training. You are not fast enough to land a blow on me through such attacks."

Tenten gritted her teeth in frustration. She couldn't believe that this moron was actually coaching her! Did he really see her as so little of a threat! She stabbed her blade at his midsection, but to her surprise, the monkey caught her wrist in his own hand. She attacked with her other hand, but he just as easily caught that one as well. Desperately, she tried to knee him in the gut, but again it was fruitless as his own knee rose up to deflect it.

He seemed to be gazing at her with something uncomfortably close to adoration, "Such angry outbursts are unbecoming of one who is so lovely." He smiled at her, "You would be better suited using a more graceful style."

Tenten's brain seemed to blink out for a moment as she processed this strange comment. Suddenly, she realized that the demon was actually _flirting_ with her, and she blanched. She had heard stories of demons who had lusted after humans...terrifying stories. Before she could react, the demon's monkey tail whipped out to wrap around her waist and pull her closer.

"I should hope that after our glorious battle, you might come over and meet with me, if you are not too badly hurt."

Tenten's stomach squirmed with disgust and she did the only other thing left that she could think of to get away. "LET ME GO YOU FREAK!" she yelled as she pulled her head back, and then slammed it forward in a furious headbutt.

Unfortunately, it was for not. The monkey demon's grip on her didn't lessen at all. Tenten pulled back to see him essentially uninjured, save for a small bruise on his forehead. More surprising then that was the look on his face. He looked...Sad? Dejected? Perhaps even slightly ashamed? Certainly not what Tenten had expected.

"Very well," The monkey said, "I suppose that is no different a response then I have ever gotten before." and he sighed heavily.

Before Tenten could respond however, a shadowed figure appeared behind Lee, jabbing a single finger into Lee's shoulder. Lee's eyes opened wide in pain and his arm went limp as a boned fish. Neji sliced at Lee with his own kunai, but the monkey demon was barely able to jump out of the way in time. Instead, Neji's slightly overextended attack left the slightest of cuts over the bridge of Tenten's nose. The girl hunter fell onto her back in shock.

Neji was holding his stomache gingerly, still clearly in pain from when Lee had hit him before. His Byakugan eyes were glaring with sheer hatred at Lee, a kunai clutched in his left hand, the tip of which was now stained red with a droplet of Tenten's blood.

He glanced briefly at his teamate on the ground before him, "Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded, the cut was quite shallow, and he turned his attention back to his enemy.

Tenten jumped to her feet, "You said I should have a more graceful fighting style." she said to the demon, her voice full of scorn now that she had regained her senses. She reached behind her and brought forth a scroll that had been attached to her back. Deftly, she unrolled the parchment and wiped the blood from her face before smearing it upon the open scroll. There was a flash of light and were a scroll had once been, there was now the most impressive weapon that Lee could remember seeing.

It was a large kusarigama, a sickle with a chain on the butt end of the handle with a weighted flail on the end of this chain. Tenten's own kusarigama had a handle which was nearly three feet long, the curved blade on the end being nearly half this length. The chain itself looked as though it might be around 15 feet long, though most of it was wrapped around her arm and torso so that it was difficult to see. The weight on the end of the chain was the size of a golf-ball with deadly looking spikes.

Tenten smirked at him, "See how deadly graceful I can be."

* * *

Hinata was shaking in fear as the demon with the frightening fangs and heavy leather jacket approached her. She wasn't sure what to do. She certainly couldn't fight this guy on her own. Why, oh why did she have to become separated from everyone else when that terrible sandman blew them all away!

The demon-person had his hands nonchelantly placed in his pockets, his eyebrow raised, "What are you doing here?" he asked, "You don't strike me as the fighting type."

Hinata's eyes opened wide in fear, "You-your wrong!" she yelled, "I can fight!" She charged at the demon with an open palm, ready to employ the unique, Hyuuga brand of martial arts. However, before she could so much at throw an attack, the demon twisted to the side and stuck out his foot, tripping her and sending her sprawling to the ground.

Hinata flipped herself over to look at her attacker, her hands shaking and her eyes open wide in fear. She placed a hand on the ground beneath her and tried to scoot herself back.

The demon rolled his eyes, "Why are you so afraid?" he asked, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Hinata's brow scrunched together in confusion and apprehension, "You're not?" she asked.

The demon shook his head, "Why would I? You guys were the ones who attacked us."

Hinata's eyes opened wide in shock. She couldn't argue against that. It had been them who had attacked the demons. On the other hand..."You are demons. Your clan killed three people in the village."

Kiba tilted his head in confusion, "No one in the village has shown up dead. I don't know what you're talking about. If people had been dying, the village leaders would have come to us for help, and we would never have attacked them."

Hinata wasn't sure what to believe. She had read the letter from the village to the hunters guild herself. It had clearly said that three people from the village had been murdered by the up-till-then un-aggressive local demon tribe. Sakura had said that it had been foolish of the village to wait so long to request aid just because the demons hadn't shown signs of violence until then. She said that demons always turned on you eventually.

Before she could say anything, the demon boy had walked up to her and was now holding his hand out to her as if to help her up, "My name is Kiba, of the wolf clan." he said pleasantly.

Hinata took a moment to stare at his outstretched hand, and was just about to take it when suddenly Kiba's eyes opened wide in shock and he pulled back. An army of a thousand or so bugs were crawling up Kiba's body and biting him all over. The wolf-demon screamed in pain and fell to his knees.

Hinata looked up and saw, calm and stoic as ever, her teammate Shino standing a few feet behind where she lay.

"Don't listen to anything that he says Hinata. He is attempting to poison your mind, but will simply stab you in the back whenever it best suits him."

Hinata's mouth opened and closed a few times, as though she wanted to say something but wasn't sure what it was she wanted to say.

Before anyone else could react, Kiba let out a might battle roar and jumped into the air, his claws outstretched, spinning like a drill and he flew 50 feet in the air. The centrifugal force causing the insects to fly off of his body and onto the ground. After a moment of spinning, Kiba fell back to the ground and crouched into a feral fighting position, a spine-tingling growl ripping from his throat. His hair had become longer and more wild, his fangs and claws were much sharper looking, and his eyes were now shifted from icy blue on the inside to a horrible yellow around the outside of his irises. Suddenly, all of Hinata's reservations went out the window as she looked at the terrifying creature before her.

"And so the beast shows his true colors." Shino stated calmly, "You should know that my insects feed on demonic energy, and they just had a decent feast just now. I would estimate that you are at a mere 60% or less of your full strength."

Kiba growled, "More then enough to defeat you!"

* * *

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance. "Why do I have to be the one who had to fight two demons at once?" he asked himself as he shifted his vision between the girl rabbit demon who was dressed in a skimpy manner, and the somewhat chubby demon with the bright red hair that he thought might be a young caterpillar/butterfly demon. Thankfully, neither of them seemed that dangerous, at least compared to the others who he had seen in the pack before. He supposed that he could deal with this if he had to.

The chubby demon attacked first, his hand expanding like a balloon as he swung it at Shikamaru. The young hunter ducked underneath the blow and quickly drew one of his kunai before throwing it at his attacker. The chubby demon moved out of the way just in time, but before he could make any other action the kunai seemed to explode behind him and the shock-wave sent him flying to the ground, unconscious.

Shikamaru stared at his foe apathetically. He had attached an exploding tag to the kunai before he had thrown it, and clearly this was not the most skilled demon. He turned back to where the girl demon had been standing before, but found that she had disappeared somewhere.

Shikamaru sighed, "How very troublesome." he mumbled, "Hey! Come on out where I can see you!" He didn't expect that to actually work, but if the enemy was arrogant enough, it was possible.

Without warning, something tackled him from behind and he landed face-first on the ground. Thankfully, it was just grass. He felt a light arm flip him over and he found himself staring up into the face of the rabbit demon, who was holding him down with by his hips with her knees and by his arms with her hands.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked, silently wishing that he didn't have to deal with this. He looked into her face and saw what looked strangely like guilt and apprehension.

Slowly, the rabbit girl lowered her head down to his ear, "Please forgive me for this." she whispered, he voice nearly breaking. Before he could ask what she meant, she did something which very much shocked him. Something that he had not expected her to do at all.

She kissed him, full on the lips. Shikamaru struggled for a moment, as she breathed into his mouth, but then his body seemed to go limp. He wasn't sure why he wasn't fighting...but at the same time he didn't know why he was. He found himself remarkably enjoying himself for the first time in a long time. His pupils began to shrink and he, against his own will, began to return the kiss. He couldn't remember why he had been fighting or even where he was fighting, or who he was fighting. Heck, he was having a hard time remembering who he himself was. At the moment he felt like he could do anything that she asked him to do, gladly.

After a few seconds, the rabbit girl pulled back and looked into his face didn't move or speak in responce except to stare at her with a strange expression in his eyes. Again she lowered her head to his ear and spoke in an increadibly seductive voice, "Your mind belongs to me now."

* * *

Naruto jumped backwards from tree-branch to tree-branch as Sakura swung her sword at him again and again, each swipe cleaving clean through another of the branches that she had been standing on just before. He was surprised at the amount of malice which she applied to each attack. Something told him that something he said had struck a nerve.

Annoyed at this game of cat and mouse (and especially annoyed with being on the defensive in any fight), he anticipated her next attack, pumping a large amount of demonic energy into his hand and catching her overhead swing. The blade hit his open palm but did not pierce his skin. Sakura's eyes opened wide in shock.

"Why are you fighting so furiously?" Naruto asked, "Why do you want to kill me and my family? You don't even know us."

Sakura's eyes narrowed even further and Naruto could feel the increase in chakra (the human equivalent to demonic energy) pumping into her sword. Naruto's eyes opened wide as he felt the blade begin to slice through his hand.

_"There is nothing,"_Sakura stated between gritted teeth, _"I hate more...then a demon who tries to deceive me into making me think that he isn't the evil thing that he is!"_

Before the blade could slice his right hand in-half, Naruto slammed his left into Sakura's stomach, releasing a small burst of energy (small for him at least) which sent her flying back out of the tree and landing roughly on her back. Naruto flashed down in front of her and swung his fist downward. It met only ground, leaving a large crater in the earth, as Sakura flash-stepped behind him and swung her sword again. Naruto, sensing the attack, countered her flash-step with one of his own and appeared at her side, slamming into his foe with a wave of demonic energy that sent her flying back and crashing straight through the trunk of a nearby tree.

The blast would have turned an ordinary person into pulp, but Sakura gingerly rose back to her feet, "I will not be beaten by the likes of you." she stated through gritted teeth.

Naruto sighed, "Why do you hate me so much?" he asked, "It sounds to me like you have some bad experiences in the past with demons. Perhaps demons whom you trusted at one point. What happened to you?"

Sakura's eyes opened wide in shock, "Don't talk like you know me, MONSTER!" She screamed as she charged again, even faster then before. Naruto barely move out of the way of her strike in time and her fist impacted the trunk of an enormous oak tree which he had been standing in front of.

Naruto's eyes opened wide in shock as the tree was ripped straight in two and began toppling over. Before it hit the ground, Sakura grabbed onto the side of it, single-handed, digging her fingers into the splintering wood, and swung it at him like the worlds largest club. To shocked to properly dodge, the tree impacted with Naruto with all the force of a charging elephant demon and sent him flying back through the forest, shattering most of his ribs in the process and causing him to hack up blood.

Naruto landed and then continued to skid across the ground for at least 200 meters before he finally came to a stop. He looked up and saw an impossible sight, Sakura flying though the air, the enormous tree held up above her, ready to use it to pound him into the ground. The tree impacted on the ground and sent out a ear-shattering crash, accompanied by a huge mushroom cloud of dust and dirt.

Sakura smiled at her victory, her breathing heavy but her pride shinning. "Like I thought...just another murdering beast who acts like he's tough until he meets someone who can match him. Then he crumbles." She spoke.

"You sure about that?"

Sakura's eyes shot open in shock and fear and spun around to see her foe standing directly behind her, a thin stream of blood rolling down down from the corner of his mouth, and his left arm gingerly wrapped around his ribs, but otherwise un-injured. His red eyes were narrowed dangerously and his right hand, already healed from when her sword had cut it, was held out above his head, a shining will-o-wisp of blue flame dancing around his palm.

"Let's see how you take one of my attacks," He spoke menacingly, and he swung his arm down.

Sakura knew that she didn't have time to dodge, so in desperation, she flipped her sword around in front of her to use as a shield. The will-o-wisp impacted on the cold metal of the blade, and Sakura felt herself being flung into the air.

* * *

**silverspetz: Hey silver :) Good to hear from you again. Yeah, I thought that since I am creating an entirely new world with entirely new rules (even if it is almost entirely based on Naruto), it would be good if I did a few things to establish some ground-rules for how this world works. Thanks for the kind words (I still will never like Naru/Hina, but I respect your opinions and am glad that you can enjoy my stories regardless). I thank you for your kind words, and don't worry, ;) I will be continuing Life Within Death (now that I have gotten more into the flow of college and I'm not working 24-7) as soon as I can.**

**Everyone else: Thank you for your reviews. There is nothing that an author loves more then hearing from his readers :)**


	3. Chapter 3: An Inopportune Meeting

Disclaimer: Da disclaimer claims that dis claimer claims no claim on dis Naruto. But dis claimer's disclaimer does claim a claim on the story of his own claim, so no claimin' it bustah!

* * *

_**Chapter 3: An Inopportune Meeting**_

* * *

Sakura knew that she didn't have time to dodge, so in desperation, she flipped her sword around in front of her to use as a shield. The will-o-wisp impacted on the cold metal of the blade, and Sakura felt herself being flung into the air.

What was at first a tiny spark of blue flame exploded on contact with her sword. Sakura felt herself being lifted into the air as immense flames spun around her like a pale blue inferno, easily tall enough to raise over the treetops ten times over, and large enough to engulf the entire field upon which they had met. The flames were strange too. They didn't merely burn like ordinary fire. Rather the aqua fire seemed to burn, freeze, shock, and buffet her flesh all simultaneously. Fox-fire, she knew it was called, and it was an incredible force in this demon's hands.

After a while, the force dissipated, flickering away as though it were a true flame, and she fell to the ground, landing with a dull thud.

Naruto looked on with cold apathy as his foe fell to the earth, "I didn't want to do that. But it is my duty to protect my pack. I hope that you have the strength to drag yourself back to the village. If so, know that this is your first strike. Come back again, and I'll send you packing again. But come back a third time...and I'll end you and your group." and with that he turned and left.

He had hardly taken a step when he heard a light rustle behind him and, with a flash of steel, a large splash of demon's blood covered the ground before him.

Naruto fell to his knee and turned his head to see Sakura, standing strong with her sword, now stained with blood, still raised in the air from her upward slash. She was beaten, bruised, and her breathing was heavy, but she was not at all down.

Sakura grinned, "Wondering how I survived that? The secret's in the sword." she slowly lowered her enormous blade back into an attacking position, "My guillotine blade is specially designed to repel demonic energy, like the kind that powered that Fox-fire of yours. That still hurt pretty bad...I'll be better prepared from now on...but it reduced the power significantly."

Naruto looked shocked for a moment, but then, to Sakura's immense surprise, he started laughing, "Well isn't that something," he spoke between chuckles, "And here I was afraid that I had overdone it again."

The kitsune pushed himself back up to his feet, and cracked his neck, as his natural regenerative powers began knitting up the devastating slash on his back. He wouldn't be totally healed for a while, but while this blow would have killed a lesser being, Naruto wasn't in any real danger.

Sakura clenched her sword harder and fell into a full combat stance. Naruto grinned, "So your sword can deflect my power, huh?" he asked as he slowly brought up both of his hands so that they faced palm up. The boy kitsune exerted a small amount of strength and two more will-o-wisps appeared, one floating over each of his hands, "Let's put that to the test, eh?"

* * *

Lee back-flipped as the long chain of Tenten's kusarigama swung underneath him once again. Neji slid under the huge spinning chain and lashed out at Rock Lee once again, only to, once again, be sent flying back as Lee spun himself around in midair and slammed the heel of his foot into his skull. Neji hit the ground hard, chin first, and Lee back-flipped away, laughing joyously.

"You are starting to slip up, Hyuuga-san!" the monkey demon said with a grin, "If you wish to defeat me, you must charge into the battle with FULL YOUTHFUL ABANDON!"

Neji simply glared, stood back up, and fell back into a Hyuuga fighting pose.

Lee sighed, "I see that we are being very serious today...very well," Lee's face hardened into one of determination, "Then let us both stop holding back, shall we?"

For the first time, Neji adopted a look of shock, "You? How did you know that I was holding back?"

Lee smirked, "Your stance is restrained, and your muscles and exerting themselves to their full amount with your blows. Out of all of my clan-mates, my hand-to-hand combat is the greatest, even compared to Naruto-sama himself! I can always tell when my opponents are not trying their hardest." Lee squatted down, tensing up his legs and stretching his arms out, "I thought that it was only fair to return the favor to you, but now I find myself wishing to know what the great Hyuuga can really do. So you should now stop holding back, or else you will surely get hurt."

It happened faster then Tenten could blink. Lee kicked off from the ground, leaving a small crater in the earth where he had been a moment ago. Her eyes flashed about, looking in vain to see where the lightning fast demon had disappeared to.

"What!" she heard Neji exclaim, and she turned to look at him. He was staring up in the air, his white eyes opened wide in shock. She followed his train of vision, and what she saw nearly caused her to cry out in astonishment as well. Rock Lee was at least 100 feet in the air and still rising! And there there didn't appear to be anything really pushing him upward, or any sort of output of demonic energy for a special technique.

It was simply as though he had jumped 100, now 150 feet in the air under the power of nothing more then his own muscles!

At around 175 feet, Lee seemed to reach the apex of his leap, flipped around, and now, facing in the direction of Neji, flung his arms out behind himself. An enormous amount of pressure hit the air behind him and he shot downward like a rocket towards his foe.

"TENTEN, LOOK OUT!" Neji yelled as he grabbed Tenten by the shoulder and tossed her aside with surprising strength, causing her to skid on the ground until she was out of the way of the monkey demon which was flying at them with lightning speed.

"NEJI!" Tenten called out in fear, as Lee crashed with phenomenal speed into her teammate, friend, and crush. The resounding crash resonated throughout every one of Tenten's bones as a cloud of stone and dust was expelled into the air around the point of impact. A small rock hit her in the shoulder and knocked her onto her back.

Tenten slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, her bones aching from nothing more then the shock-wave that had hit her, and she watched, horrified, as the dust cloud settled. She expected nothing less then to see a pulpy splatter on the ground where Neji had once stood.

She saw Lee jump out of the cloud of dust, backflipping a couple times before he landed deftly on the ground, his face donning a huge grin.

Tenten felt a surge of hatred swell up for this insane monkey-man. How dare he feel joy at having just slaughtering a man as good and decent as Neji! Even she, when they had slain the most evil of demons before, had never gotten a feeling of joy out of it. She had merely felt a strong sense of accomplishment at having done her job.

The dust began to settle, and Tenten felt her heart leap into her throat as she saw Neji, unharmed, spinning like a top with an aura of bluish chakra around him, standing in a large indent created by his own shielding aura and Lee's attack.

Neji stopped spinning and fell back into a fighting pose, "Tenten," he spoke, "Get away from here. There is nothing more that you can do. Find one of the others, help them, but keep away from here. Things are about to get dangerous here."

"But Neji," she called out in desperation, "This guy is too much, even for you! You need my help!"

Neji smiled serenely, "I thought that you had more faith in me Tenten...I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Lee's grin grew wider, "Excellent! I knew that my attack wouldn't defeat you! I am so glad that you have not disappointed me! Now let me see how strong you can really be!"

Tenten blinked, and Lee was gone. He appeared behind Neji so quickly that she could have sworn that he had teleported, and swung his foot out at head-level. Neji reacted faster then Tenten had ever seen him before, pivoting around and knocking his kick out of the way with the palm of his hand. Even from 20 feet away, Tenten heard the slam as their blows connected and she knew that if he had attacked her with a blow that strong, he would have snapped her spine in two.

Lee's grinning face never let up an inch, "How wonderful that Byakugan of yours is! You saw my attack coming even from behind! Can those eyes see out the back of your own head?"

Neji, on the other hand, scowled, "Nothing," he said, "can hide from my eyes. No matter what angle you attack from, I will always know that you are there."

Lee disappeared again, immediately reappearing above and to the left of his foe, striking again with his foot, and again having it blocked by Neji's open hand. Faster then you could blink, Lee was behind Neji again, and now to his side, and now above him, behind him, below him, to the left, to the right, so quickly that Tenten could get a headache just watching it. Neji parried every blow masterfully though, his hands moving at nearly the same blinding speed as Lee's feet. Tenten couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration for the Hyuuga boy.

It wasn't to last though. Lee was simply too fast, and Neji was too overwhelmed to throw a counter attack. Lee's foot connected with Neji's back, and the Hyuuga boy was sent flying forward.

Suddenly, Lee was in front of him again, intercepting his short flight with a high kick that sent Neji into the air. The monkey demon kicked off from the ground again, reached the apex of his jump just above Neji, and delivered a final kick to the Hyuuga's chest, sending him crashing back down to earth, hard.

Tenten was sweating as she watched her friend and teammate lay motionless of the ground, hardly even noticing when Lee fell back to earth, landing gracefully only a short distance away from her.

Slowly...incredibly...Neji began to rise again. He truly was the most amazing warrior that Tenten knew.

Lee began laughing, "You are indeed a splendid foe! Even after being hit by me three times in a row you had the clarity of mind to push out your own chakra around your body, creating a cushioning sheild which protected you from the damage of crashing down to earth. Your youthful ambition is truly something to behold!"

Neji smirked as he found his footing again, "You...*pant*...have a good eye. But you're not the only one who...*pant*...has deduced your enemies' secrets. You're quickly...*pant*...running out of juice...*pant*...aren't you?" Lee raised an eyebrow and Neji continued, "You...*pant*...at first I thought that there was something wrong with my eyes...*pant*...because even after your huge burst of strength, I couldn't see any increase in your demonic energy...*pant*...but then I realized that...*pant*...the reason for that is that your strength didn't come from an increase in demonic energy...*pant*...Am I right?"

Lee slowly nodded, "Indeed, it is not. Controlling my energies has always been difficult for me."

Neji simply continued talking, "What you did, was simply push an enormous amount of ordinary kinetic energy into your muscles, super-charging them way past what their normal limits are, as well as delivering far more oxygen to them by increasing your heart rate. It's an impressive feat to have trained yourself to be able to do this at will. Doing this allows you to boost your strength and speed to the levels of an A rank demon." Neji now grinned himself, one of the only times that Tenten had ever seen the look on his face, "But," he continued, "doing so is also quite destructive to your body. Your muscles are tearing from being pushed so hard, and heart is starting to give out as well. I estimate that you only have about 45 more seconds of being able to do this before your body completely fails on you."

Lee raised an eyebrow, "Well, well...we are impressive, aren't we? _BUT NO MATTER! 45 SECONDS IS MORE THEN ENOUGH TIME TO END THIS BATTLE AND GO BACK TO AID MY YOUTHFUL COMPANIONS!"_

* * *

Kiba jumped at his insectoid foe and slashed with claws that glowed with energy. Shino ducked underneath the attack and sent another could of his beetles upwards. Kiba began spinning again in order to prevent the insects from latching onto him, and his momentum carried him over Shino's head to land a few feet behind the bug wielder. Kiba jumped back onto his feet and flipped around to glare at his enemy, his eyes now completely yellow in color and his fangs extending down past his lower lip.

"Why is it that you bastards always feel the need to come into our territory and cause trouble, huh? What did we ever do to you?"

Shino seemed taken aback by that comment, "What did you ever do to me? Nothing whatsoever. It is what you have done and will continue to do to other people that matters."

The bug wielder swung his arm and an enormous swarm of insects began swarming upwards through the earth and under Kiba's feet. The wolf demon back-flipped into a nearby tree and immediately kicked off from it again, catapulting himself into Shino and knocking the bug boy onto his back.

Kiba gripped Shino's neck in his clawed hand and snarled at him, "What we have done? Tell me what we have done! Do you know who we are! We-huh?" Kiba tried to pull back in shock but was unable to move as three long centipedes crawled out of Shino's jacket and wrapped themselves around his arms and neck. The three large insects bit into Kiba's skin and began draining more of his strength away.

"Why ask a question to which you already know the answer?" Shino asked, "You slaughtered innocent and defenceless people, as is your way. That is justification enough." More of Shino's infinite army of insects began crawling up Kiba's arms.

Kiba tried in vain to pull back from the insectiod assault, but somehow, the centipedes' bites had left him paralysed.

Shino's words however, seemed to have effected him more then his trap, "Slaughtered innocents? That...that was many years ago, and...and I have made amends for it, many times over."

Shino raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Interesting. I was not referring to anything in your past. I was only talking about the three in the village whom you have killed recently." Shino almost seemed to smile, "Now you've perked my interest. What is your story, demon?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed and the yellow became more pronounced, "Oh, right. I had forgotten about the three that the girl had mentioned before...probably because IT NEVER HAPPENED!" With a sudden surge of strength, Kiba yanked his arms and head back, snapping all three centipedes in two, and quickly wiped his arms of the smaller beetles as he jumped away, placing some distance between himself and his foe.

Shino rose to his feet, "Well...I'm surprised...and impressed. You shouldn't even have the strength to move anymore, much less break out of my hold on you. But either way, you are finished. My insects have now drained you down to less then 10% of your strength."

Kiba was panting hard, his lungs and heart desperately trying to push more oxygen to his brain. After a moment he grinned, and then, to everyone's surprise, he began laughing. A deep, belly-laugh that seemed to shake the very leaves on the trees. His eyes were shot wide open as he rolled his head back and his claws and fangs grew even longer then before.

Shino slowly shook his head, "What on earth are you doing? Have you gone insane?"

Kiba stopped suddenly, mid-laugh, and turned his head down to stare at Shino for a moment, "Huh...10% you say? That's still not a problem. I'll have to take some drastic measures, and the others will probably ridicule me for needing to totally break out." He grinned smugly, "but when I break out into my full demon form, you won't stand a chance."

Shino's eyes went behind his sunglasses wide as Kiba began focusing his strength internally, consciously releasing the blocks that he kept in place to keep himself in a human-like form. The air became heavy and the light seemed to dim as Kiba began glowing with a pale blue light. The wolf-demon fell down to all four legs and ripped off his jacket as his body began changing form. His back legs shortened, his muscular chest began to expand and curl into a rounder shape. His mouth lengthened into a snout and his hair began growing all along his body, turning silver and becoming fur.

Shino took a step back as the transformation completed itself. Kiba's new form was like that of a huge wolf, nearly as tall as Shino was in spite of being on four legs. His fur was silvery white, though he retained the red triangular markings on his cheeks, and his eyes were piercing yellow. Pale blue energy rolled off of him in waves, shaping and forming into smaller ghostly wolf heads around him. His paws were the size of dinner plates, with claws as large, and easily twice as sharp, as the hunter's kunai. His top two canine teeth were twice this long.

Shino slowly shook his head, he had seen demon transformations before, though admittedly never one quite so impressive, "No matter," he spoke calmly, "Your strength is still significantly weaker."

Kiba seemed to smirk, though this was difficult to tell in his wolf form, and let loose a terrible sound, somewhere between a bark and a roar, sending out a powerful shock-wave which pushed the grass down and lifted Shino off of his feet, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

* * *

Ino slowly pulled herself up off of Shikamaru, her eyes clenched shut, a tear welling in the corner. Her guilt at having to use her mind controlling powers overwhelming. But...he had hurt Chouji and was possibly going to kill him. She couldn't just stand by and watch that happen!

She looked down at the boy, who was still laying on his back, his face held in the most peculiar of expressions. It wasn't blank, per say. It was more like his head was swimming, his eyes unfocused and slowly rolling from side to side, his mouth ever-so-slightly agape, and his breathing somewhat heavier then it normally would be. It was a look that was indistinguishable from the looks of every other man whom she had used her powers on.

"Stand up," she spoke, softly, "we have work to do. We need to convince your other teammates to retreat."

Obediently, Shikamaru pulled himself up off the ground, stood up, and shifted his vision to watch Ino. Convinced that her controlling powers had taken hold, she turned away and began walking towards where she hoped the others were.

She was shocked to find a kunai blade at her throat the moment that she turned her back.

"You don't think that I wouldn't be prepared for something like that, do you? I recognize a rabbit demon when I see one."

She turned her head slightly to look at Shikamaru's face. It was completely lucid. She saw a whiff of pink mist drift out of his frowning mouth, the same pink mist which should have entered his lungs and been absorbed into his brain.

"How-how did you...?" she wasn't sure how to finish that question.

Shikamaru frowned in thought as his mind went through the past few moments. He had of course recognized Ino as a rabbit demon, and knew exactly what to expect from her. He knew that he wasn't the most skilled or powerful of hunters in the world, certainly nowhere near Sakura's or Neji's level, but what he was, was intelligent. He had studied the powers of hundreds of different types of demons and developed counters to all of them. His rather unique abilities, a curse which he had acquired a long time ago, gave him complete control over his own shadow, turning it into a physical substance, and even connecting it to another being's shadow in order to control their movements. When he had felt the mind controlling mist enter his mouth when Ino had kissed him, he had reacted my solidifying his shadow and creeping it up his own neck to squeeze it shut and cut off his airflow. She had kissed him for so long that he had nearly lost consciousness, but at the end of it all he had kept her from infecting his mind.

Shikamaru glanced back at her, "How did I keep my own mind? That's for me to know rabbit lady. Suffice it to say that your power failed, and now I will end this."

Ino's eyes opened wide in fear, and a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. She desperately looked around for some mode of escape, praying that someone would come to her rescue, but there was no one. Chouji was still out cold, and although she couldn't see them, she could hear the sounds of the other members of her pack's battles. She was alone.

She wouldn't beg for her life.

* * *

Sakura back-flipped as another will-o-wisp hit the ground and erupted into another inferno of greenish blue flame where she had been standing a moment before. With incredible speed, Naruto was suddenly behind her, using his fox tail as a whip as he smashed her down into the earth. Amazingly, she managed to land on her feet, creating a small crater where she hit the earth, but uninjured other then a small bruise on her back.

Naruto smiled joyously, "This really is fun!" he called out, "I'm having a great time with you Sakura-chan!"

Sakura glared in hatred and charged at him, her sword held at the ready to cleave him in two. Lazily, he flicked another wisp of fox-fire at her. With a raging yell, Sakura swung her sword at the small orb of light, hitting it hard enough that the natural powers of her sword dispelled the energy before it had time to explode outward. When she reached Naruto she swung her sword as hard as she could, pushing so much of her chakra into the heavy blade that it actually shone with a pale green light.

Naruto pushed an even larger amount of red demonic energy into the palms of his hands and caught the blade once more, though he was now forced to use both hands to hold the blade at bay. Sakura grinned released the sword with her right hand, holding it in place only with her left, a tribute to her phenomenal strength, and threw a mighty punch at her foe.

Incredibly, her blow was blocked by what appeared, to her shock, to be three separate fox tails which wrapped around Naruto from behind from different angles. Sakura's eyes opened wide as she saw the multiple tails, a total of four, though only one was actually attached to the boy. The other three, the ones which had deflected her blow, appeared to have grown out of three slightly larger versions of Naruto's will-o-wisps, floating in mid-air behind him.

It took Sakura a moment to find her voice, and when she did, it was filled with astonishment, "You..you're not just a fox demon! You're a kitsune! Four tails...now your increadible power makes more sense."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, that's me. The 4-tailed kitsune, one of the strongest demons in the fox-clan, and the crown prince of one of the five great demon kingdoms!" Naruto yelled out with pride. Sakura slowly shook her head and Naruto nodded, "Believe it! I'm the son of the might Kyuubi! The strongest demon to ever walk the earth! There is no way that you can beat me, and there is no way that I will let you hurt my pack!"

With a mighty surge of strength, Naruto pushed back against her fist and sword, and sent her reeling onto her back. She stared up at him for a minute, looking as though she were trying to decide something, and then scoffed, "You think that I would believe that sack of lies! What would the son of the Kyuubi no Kitsune be doing out in the middle of the woods with a cobbled together group of all different kinds of demons? Besides, the Kyuubi's son died a long time ago. I'm a hunter, so I know everything that goes on in the demon's inner circles. Kyuubi killed the boy personally when it was apparent that he was too weak to one day lead one of the five demon kingdoms."

Naruto slowly turned his head away, "Is that the story that they're using? Huh...I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Still, I thought that I meant more then _that_."

Before he could continue, he heard the familiar swish of metal flying through air, and he turned to see Sakura's sword just over an inch from his face. He moved to the side just in time to prevent himself from having his head cleaved in two, but the blade still grazed into his shoulder, drawing a decent amount of blood. With incredible speed, Naruto retaliated by ducking low and landing a powerful kick directly into Sakura's solar plexus, sending her right back down to the ground again.

Naruto watched as she struggled back to her feet, her injuries finally starting to catch up to her, "You know that you can't win, right?" he asked, "You might be able to match some of my attacks, land a few blows on me while I land a few blows on you, even deflect my fox-fire a few times, but you can't win." Naruto glanced at his own wounded shoulder. Her blade had cut down clear through his collar bone, and had drawn a lot of blood, but already the wound was knitting itself, a testament to his incredible healing capabilities. "Even if you could completely match my strength and power, eventually I would wear you down. My injuries would all heal, but yours wouldn't. So just leave with your life while you can. Let my pack have it's peace."

Sakura hated the very thought of it. She had never run away from a fight with a demon before. Of course, she had never met a demon whom she couldn't handle before, nor one who would let her go if she did try to run. However, she also knew that he was right. This was a loosing battle. She would die if she tried to force herself to keep at it. And above that, she had no idea how well the others were doing. Neji, she wasn't worried about. He was at least as strong as she herself was, perhaps stronger. But what about Shikamaru, Tenten, Shino, and little Hinata? She needed to find them.

Hating herself for it, and fully expecting the kitsune to incinerate her with one of his fox-fire attacks the moment that she turned her back, Sakura Haruno ran.

* * *

"RETREAT!" Sakura called out as she held her sword slung over back with one hand, the other clutching her bruised ribs and gut, "EVERYBODY RETREAT! WE'RE IN OVER OUR HEADS HERE!"

Neji glanced down at the figure beneath him, beaten and bruised, both legs broken and paralyzed via his special Hyuuga techniques. Rock Lee had certainly fallen a long way in a short amount of time. If Sakura was calling a retreat, he would have to make this fast. He drew his kunai knife and held it positioned above the downed demon's neck, drawing no joy but a sense of professional satisfaction as he watched the demon attempt in vain to slowly crawl away on his arms. One quick strike to sever the spinal cord would finish the job nicely.

A hand was placed on his shoulder just as he was about to swing his arm down, and he turned to see Tenten standing next to him, "Come on Neji, we have to go."

Neji nodded, "Yeah, I know. One minute, I need to finish this."

Tenten shook her head, "We need to go now, and find the others. If Sakura was forced to retreat, we don't know what might have happened to them!"

Neji nearly growled in frustration (of course he did not, as such an act would be unbecoming to a hunter such as himself, especially a Hyuuga), and nodded, pocketing his knife and following Tenten as she dashed into the forest.

Rock Lee sighed as he slumped back onto the ground, silently thanking the beautiful young hutress who had saved him.

* * *

Shino rolled over, clutching his chest in pain as he was slammed into another tree. Wolf-Kiba charged at him and he jumped upward, allowing the large demon to slam into the tree behind him, and he landed on his foes back. Two more centipedes rolled out of Shino's sleeves and attempted to drain what remained of the huge canine's energy, but just like with the beetles they were rebuffed. Somehow, Kiba's fur was simply too thick for the insects to get through.

Kiba began bucking like a raging bull at a rodeo, and Shino grabbed onto the fur around his neck with both hands, desperately trying to hold on.

"SHINO, HINATA!" a familiar voice called out to him, "WE HAVE TO GO, NOW!"

Shino looked up to see his commander, Sakura Haruno, standing near the outskirts of his battle. He hated to give up, but he nodded his consent (not that she would be able to tell from that distance with him hanging on for dear life to a bucking demon). Quite frankly he was caught off guard here and wasn't sure that he could win. With the strength and agility of a flea, he kicked off of the wolf's back, soaring towards his teammates.

He never made it more then a few feet however, as Wolf-Kiba's jaws clamped down on his leg in mid-leap, causing him to cry out in pain as razor-sharp fangs dug into him. Kiba's paw slammed down on him, and the demon appeared to make a move to bite at Shino's head. A moment before it happened however, Sakura was upon the transformed demon, slamming her fist into it's jaw and sending it flying back, landing with a whimper on it's side.

"Can you stand?" Sakura asked.

Shino tested his leg gingerly. It was damaged, and would limp, but it wouldn't give out, "Yes, I'm fine. You should go get Hinata. I think the poor girl is in shock."

Sakura nodded and ran over to where Hinata was sitting on the grass, gently nursing a bruised shoulder and still staring at Kiba's prone form with something akin to astonishment, "Come on Hinata," Sakura spoke urgently, "We have to go, now!"

Hinata turned to stare at Sakura but still seemed to be in too much shock to understand what she was saying.

Sakura sighed and, with a slight exertion of strength, lifted the other girl up and slung her over her shoulder, "Let's get out of here, Shino!"

* * *

Neji's eyes opened wide as he stared down at his two teammates immobile figures. Both Kankuro and Temari were beaten and bloody to gratuitous levels. Their faces were so badly swollen that if not for their unique clothing, Kankuro's face-paint, and Temari's large fan, they would have been unrecognizable. A pile of wood and metal nearby might have, at one time, been Kankuro's puppet, while Temari's fan was draped over her legs, also broken, though in her case probably not beyond repair.

The Hyuuga boy slowly raised his white eyes to view the Tanuki demon, his face expressionless, sitting down in the shade of a nearby tree, a few particles of sand still floating through the air around him. If he noticed the Hyuuga's presence at all, he made no indication of it. Quite frankly, Neji was happy to keep it that way. He was stronger then either Kankuro or Temari, but certainly not strong enough to take them both together, and yet this guy seemed to have taken them down without any effort at all.

Tenten gafe a sort of stifled gasp/shriek when she saw the state of her teammates. Neji's eyes shot back and forth between his teammate and the sand Tanuki, but again he simply ignored them.

Neji took a few steps forward, towards his teammates, and the demon flicked his eyes ever so briefly over towards him. Neji froze for a moment, fear creeping down his spine, but the demon simply turned his eyes away again, and made no other movement.

For some reason, this demon didn't have any intent of killing them. Probably because he didn't consider them to be a threat. Neji figured that if this guy could take out the dessert siblings so easily, he was probably right.

Either way, Neji would take advantage of the situation, "Tenten, grab Temari, while I get Kankuro. We're getting out of here...before this demon changes it's mind."

Tenten complied, and the two made a hasty retreat, their beaten comrades slung over their shoulders. Neji was almost certain that his Byakugan had seen the red-haired demon grinning manically just before he moved out of Neji's range of vision.

* * *

The full group, minus one, most injured in some way, continued to flee through the forest. Neji kept his eyes open for Shikamaru, but the lazy boy was nowhere to be seen. He certainly hoped that the boy hadn't fallen victim to their foes. There was no doubt that they had severely underestimated their opponents and gotten in way over their head. Had anything happened to Shikamaru, Neji knew that Sakura would never forgive herself.

To the Hyuuga's surprise however, he soon saw his teammate through the use of his Byakugan, a few dozen feet in front of the retreating group, apparently unharmed.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Shikamaru asked, in his typical lazy voice when they reached his location.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'WHAT'S UP'!" Sakura screamed at him, "WE WERE LOOKING FOR YOU! WE THOUGHT THAT YOU MIGHT BE INJURED, OR WORSE!"

Shikamaru flinched at her screams and made a motion like he was cleaning out his ears, "Jeez, sorry boss. Didn't mean to make everyone worry so much."

Sakura rubbed her forehead with her thumb and forefinger in exasperation, "Whatever, I'm calling in a retreat, lets get out of here." She paused for a moment, "By the way, what did happen to you? Were you able to take down your target?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru blinked, apparently slow to understand her meaning, "Oh! Yeah, I finished the job. One of them at least."

Sakura smiled and nodded. At least that was one piece of good news today.

* * *

Ino's brow was furrowed in confusion as she continued to drag the unconscious Chouji through the forest floor, "Come on you giant grub," she mumbled in annoyance, "Why do you have to be so heavy?"

Her long, yellow ears twitched as she heard the telltale sounds of footsteps rushing towards her, and she froze in fear for a moment before she caught the familiar smell.

"Ino!" the comforting voice of her pack-leader, Naruto called out to her, "Are you alright? What happened to Chouji!" he finished as he dashed up beside her.

"Chouji's just super..." they heard the large boy mumble from his position on the ground.

Ino immediately dropped his arm, "You! We're you just faking being unconscious the whole time!"

Chouji slowly shook his head and scrunched up his eyes, "No...uhhh...no, that guy really did knock me unconsi-unconsho-uh, he knocked me out." Clearly Chouji was still slightly groggy, "I just woke up now."

Naruto nodded as he helped Chouji to his feet. Ino noticed that two of the others were following not to far behind her leader, Kiba in his full wolf form surprisingly enough, with Rock Lee draped over his back, the monkey demon clearly in a state of great pain as he clutched his legs.

"Lee!" Ino shouted in shock as she saw his sweating face, his muscles highly tensed, "What happend? Are you alright?"

Lee turned to her and gave her a corny grin and a thumbs up, "Oh indeed, I shall be fine. I merely underestimated my opponent. But fear not, for when I recover, I shall redouble all of my training! Next time I shall taste splendid victory!"

Naruto shook his head and rolled his eyes, but smirked in amusement at his friends antics, "More importantly Ino, what happened with you? With Chouji knocked out, how did you get away?"

Ino frowned slightly and turned her head down, "Well..."

_Ino's eyes opened wide in fear, and a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. She desperately looked around for some mode of escape, praying that someone would come to her rescue, but there was no one. Chouji was still out cold, and although she couldn't see them, she could hear the sounds of the other members of her pack's battles. She was alone._

_Shikamaru pressed his knife deeper into her neck, drawing the slightest droplet of blood, and she whimpered in pain and terror._

_He hesitated._

_She turned her head to look at him, unsure of what he was waiting for, and met his eyes with hers. She refused to beg for her life with words. She had too much pride for that. And yet, her eyes showed the truth. She didn't want to die. A tear rolled down her eye._

_He didn't want to kill her either. She had expressed regret at what she had tried to do to him, only having done it in desperation, and besides that she was a defenseless woman. Whether she was a demon or not, if he killed her, he would feel like a common murderer._

_Slowly, afraid that he might be making a big mistake, he lowered his blade from her neck, and took a step back._

_She was confused and unsure. She glanced at him in curiosity._

_"Just get out of here, and take your friend with you." he mumbled, "Killing you would be more troublesome then it's worth."_

_He turned away and began walking through the forest, but just before that she felt that she saw something in his expression that surprised her...something akin to perhaps...self-revulsion._

_She wasn't sure what to think about that._

Ino slowly shook her head, "He...let me go."

Naruto raised an eyebrow for a moment in surprise, then he smiled, "Come on, let's go get Garra and get out of here."

* * *

Sasuke flicked his forked tongue out a few times as he watched Chouji administer more of his healing salve to Rock Lee's heavily bruised legs, and rolled his eyes as the monkey demon yelled out in pain. He showed no empathy or pity of any sort, but Naruto knew the truth. He had seen the look of shock and then anger which had flickered across his friend's face when he had first seen Lee being carried back into the mountain caves.

"Looks like we could have used your help after all." Naruto stated, watching the serpent demon's face closely for any reaction.

Sasuke scoffed, "It was his own fault. The idiot got in over his head when he shouldn't have, and got himself injured for it. Why should I care?

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "What's been with you these last few days, huh? You've been acting different."

Sasuke wouldn't meet Naruto's eyes, "Nothing," he mumbled, "Just been feeling restless lately. Annoyed that I have to spend time with such a big group of weaklings."

Naruto slowly shook his head, "You know, you can put on that mask of indifference as much as you want, but I see through you. You regret not being there, and are blaming yourself for Lee's injuries."

Sasuke didn't answer, instead turning away and skulking off deeper into the caverns. Naruto sighed in exasperation. He was about to try and follow his friend into the caves, but was stopped by the sounds of footsteps approaching him from behind.

It was Kiba, shirtless and covered with dozens of bug-bites, all around half-healed, bandages wrapped around his chest and waist, popping a small grey pill into his mouth which Naruto recognized as one of Chouji's special medicines which would cause his demonic energy to rejuvenate faster.

"Hey, so what do you figure will happen now?" the wolf-demon asked.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. The leader girl seemed pretty determined, so I doubt that we've seen the last of them. Did you manage to find out what happened to Lee?"

Kiba snorted, "He won't say. He just keeps babbling on about how he needs to enhance his training and restore his 'youthful glory'."

Naruto grinned, Lee was certainly quite a character, "How 'bout you?" he asked, "That Aburame seemed to have done quite a number on you."

Kiba scowled, "I was caught off-guard. Next time I'll be prepared. If that little bug tries to take me on again, I'll squash him before he can drain any of my power."

Naruto raised his eyebrow and grinned, "Out of curiosity, how exactly did he manage to catch you off-guard? With your nose you should have been able to sense him coming a mile away." the fox's grin widened playfully, "Were you distracted by that raven-haired girl?"

Kiba's face turned so red that his triangular markings seemed to blend into the rest of him, "Shut up!" he growled, "It's not what you think."

Naruto burst out laughing and Kiba snarled ferally before turning away. The wolf-demon took a few strides over towards the cave-opening, "I'm goin' for a walk." he grumbled.

Naruto immediately stopped laughing, "But it's almost dark out." he said as he turned to view the setting sun and the amber sky outside, "You shouldn't be out alone with those guys still around."

Kiba shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Like you said, no-one is going to catch me by surprise, and I'll be back before long."

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga watched the setting sun from the window of the building where her team was currently residing. A large home for travelers coming through the small town.

"Tomorrow we'll have to starting gathering as much information as we can. This pack is too strong for us to try and take all at once. We'll need to learn as much about them as we can and try to get some of it's members alone. That kitsune is going to be..."

And on and on...Hinata respected Sakura so much, but at the moment she didn't want to hear it. Her mind shifted back to the wolf-boy whom she had met earlier. She didn't know what to think about him. He had smiled and seemed so pleasant before, even when she had tried to attack him, but then he had turned so much more...unpleasant...when Shino had appeared. Which one was the real one? Which one was the act? During their dual, she had been afraid of Shino being injured, but to her surprise she had also found herself worrying about the other boy...

...Kiba.

She sighed. She needed some place to go and think. Quietly, so as not to disturb the others, she activated her Byakugan.

Although she seemed to be completely without skill or talent in apparently every other way, she did have one single advantage over her brother, and that was the actual range of her Byakugan. Neji could use his to see for a few hundred yards in all directions, but she...she could see for almost an entire mile. And right now, she could see a large field of wild-flowers out in the middle of the forest, beautiful even from this distance. She wanted to leave, to get away for a while to clear her head.

Neji was too pre-occupied to activate his own Byakugan. No one would notice if she slipped out for a while.

She was just about out the window when someone stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tenten asked, concern etched into her voice as well as her face.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat, "Please Tenten...I just need some time to myself."

Tenten seemed to falter for a moment, "Hinata...it's dangerous out there. You of all people shouldn't be out alone."

Hinata smiled reassuringly at her, an assurance that she herself did not feel, "I'll be okay. I'll keep my Byakugan activated and no-one will be able to sneak up on me."

The older girl thought the idea over for a moment before letting out a sigh and nodding, "Fine...just be careful." Hinata opened her mouth to speak again but Tenten beat her to it, "And don't worry, I won't tell Sakura or Neji, or anyone else for that matter."

Hinata smiled, "Thank you Tenten." and she was gone.

* * *

Hinata made it to the field of flowers quickly enough with her special eyes to guide her way. The sun still hadn't completely set and the twilight glow made the purple and white petals glow with even greater beauty then normal. It was a wonderful place certainly.

Gently, Hinata lowered herself onto her knees, plucked a single bud and raised it to her nose, breathing in deeply and smiling at the faint aroma. The place was so lovely, even through the distorted view of her Byakugan eyes.

She sighed, wishing that she could view the flowers with her normal vision. Slowly, she scanned the entire area within her field of vision, nearly a mile in all directions, and found nobody. Not one of her teammates, or any of the demons. There were a few small forest animals, and even something like a small deer a few hundred feet away, but certainly no danger.

Perhaps it would be okay to drop her Byakugan, just for a moment. She felt guilty, as though she were misbehaving, but she let her eyes shift back to an ordinary form, and was finally able to see the flowers for what they really were.

Hinata had always loved flowers. They were lovely, yet extremely delicate. They didn't seem to have any purpose other then to just be beautiful. They didn't need to worry about such stressful things as demons and fighting and feuds and the like. All they needed to worry about were nasty bugs and other pests, and the occasional person accidentally stepping on them, which didn't happen often because of how lovely they were.

It must be a nice life.

Smiling to herself, Hinata slowly began to twirl and dance among the flowers, her feet somehow managing to never crush one of the delicate plants underneath.

* * *

Kiba jumped through the trees, feeling the wind in his face and allowing hundreds of different smells bombast his nose all at once. The forest was an incredible place for him. Even after 10 years here, he still found things which he had never known before. New scents, new creatures, new everything. It was awesome!

As a wolf-demon, he didn't place a lot of purpose in his eyes. He saw the forest, sure, and he knew that it was nice from that angle as well, but it was his sense of smell which he truly relied on. If he lost his eyes, he would be able to go on, but if he lost his sense of smell, he would become destitute.

Once again he allowed himself to breath deeply of the forest and it's many scents, and tried to make sense of all the different aromas at once. There was the common smell of the trees, the oak and the redwood, the elm and the birch, as well as numerous different birds and small animals. Some of them triggered his stomach to rumble in hunger, and he decided that some time later he would hunt down some dinner for himself. Perhaps that deer that he could smell nearly a mile away. He could smell the bugs, of which he felt a significantly greater sense of disdain for today then usual, the dirt on the ground, the various mosses, and even the nearby river and the fish within.

And something else too. Something pleasant and floral, almost disguised by the flowers which she covered herself in. It would have fooled the others. It would even have fooled Naruto. But it did not fool Kiba.

It was that hunter girl, the one with the raven hair. What was she doing out alone at this time of night? Sure, the sun hadn't quite set yet, but that was no excuse! He had to admit that there was something in Naruto's teasing. There was something strangely endearing about the clumsy and shy girl, the way that she refused to look directly at him even when she had tried to fight him, and the way that she had been so worried when he had fought her teammate. She was pretty too, in more ways then one. She smelled pretty, an odd sentiment but one which you would understand if you were a wolf-demon like him, and she had a pretty face as well. It had been one of the few times when he had really appreciated the use of his eyes.

Smiling to himself, Kiba dashed off towards the flower field.

* * *

When he arrived on the scene, Kiba couldn't believe his eyes. This couldn't possibly been the same girl! She smelled the same, and had the same face, but the girl whom he had briefly sparred with had been so clumsy that she had tripped over her own feet! The way that this girl was dancing and twirling through the flowers, she was as graceful as a ballerina! What could possibly have brought about this sort of transformation?

He watched, fascinated as she continued her dance, twirling this way and that as the final beams of the sun shown on her face. She didn't sense his presence. It always astounded him how dismal human senses were, especially smell. He was hiding behind a tree at the edge of the field, but other then that taking no actions to hide his presence. Even a squirrel would be able to sense him like this.

She ended her dance and slowly settled upon her knees and ran her hands wistfully across the flowers with a gentleness that astounded Kiba. If he had tried to stroke the flowers, he would probably uproot half of them accidentally. He had never known anyone to be truly gentle before. His original wolf-pack had been positively bloodthirsty, and even in his new pack the others, though good people, had never been what he would describe as 'gentle'. Ino was...soft...sometimes...but it wasn't the same exactly, and it always seemed forced.

The girl plucked a flower from the field and slowly layed down onto her back, a position which surprised Kiba considering that, to a wolf-demon like himself, it was a position of fear and submission and, to his knowledge, she had nothing to be afraid of or submissive to. Then he saw the look of contentment on her face as she lifted the flower into her line of vision and smiled at it. He rolled his eyes at his own rediculous thoughts as he reminded himself that human actions were not the same as those of his own kind. Living with demons of other tribes for so long, he really should have gotten used to that by now...

He decided that he had been watching from afar for long enough.

"That was a very nice dance that you just did there."

He almost laughed as the girl nearly tripped over herself as she shot up in shock and fear.

* * *

Notes: Next chapter will revolve a whole lot around Kiba and Hinata. More then that, it will also delve into both of those character's (and Neji's) pasts. It will be at least partially a flashback chapter for those characters. I will have at least one flashback chapter down the road for every character from the main two groups, in no particular order. This will start with Kiba, Hinata, and Neji, who all sort of go together, and continue on for each of the others. What I wish to ask you is, which character would you guys like next? Naruto, Sakura, Temari/Shikamaru/Kankuro (all share one), Ino, Garra, Shino, or Rock Lee. I can't do Chouji's or Tenten's quite yet, because I haven't worked them out completely, and Sasuke's will be last because his story touches on certain elements which would be major spoilers until the end.

* * *

At the end of Chapter 1, I had a few notes on some terms to know in my story. I will now continue this with some brief descriptions of different types of demons, and what differs them from each other.

_**Fox/Kitsune Demon: **_One of the 5 Great Demon Clans, the foxes are known for their generally playful nature and happy demeanor. Extremely clever, though sometimes with the appearance of being less so (dumb like a fox, as it were), and slow to anger. Anger them at your own peril however, because they hold grudges for a long time and can be extremely violent. Fox demons themselves are not the most powerful demons in existence, usually weaker then the top tier, such as falcon, snake, dog, wolf, tanuki, or cat demons, but they have a unique secret.

With enough hard work, fox demons can undergo a transformation which turns them into kitsunes. Upon this transformation they develop a second tail, and can continue gaining more tails until they reach 9. A Kitsune is far stronger then a fox demon, gaining the ability to manipulate fox-fire, which is an energy made out of sheer willpower and energy of the soul, looking like fire in appearance (a different color for each individual kitsune) but does much more then just burning what it touches. Instead the fox-fire attacks in a threefold way, physically it hits like the crushing wave of an explosion, psychologically it forces the brain to believe that the body is being frozen, burned, and electrocuted all simultaneously, and spiritually it drains the energy of whatever it hits. However, because the fox-fire is powered by the users willpower, a being who has a stronger will then the user can negate the psychological and spiritual effects, being effected only by the physical blow.

When a kitsune developes it's extra tails, they do not attach to the kitsune's body like the first tail does. Rather, they appear out of small glowing balls of fox-fire which float behind the kitsune. On the rare occasion that a fox demon gains a full 9 tails, the final of these is significantly stronger then the first 8, the Kyuubi being over twice as strong as the next strongest kitsune below.

Some notable Foxes and Kitsunes include Kyuubi (9 tails), Naruto (Kyuubi's son, 4 tails), Yahiko (7 tails), Nagato (7 tails), Konan (6 tails), and Konohamaru (1 tail)

_**Snake Demon: **_Another of the 5 Great Demon Clans, snakes are deceptive, cunning, malicious, cruel, and powerhungry (and the majority of them are quite evil as well). They are also extremely methodical and intelligent. Most demons hate humans, but snakes are rather infamous for hating them far more then usual. They generally have a superiority complex, innately believing that they are better then everybody else, and there is good reason for it. They are among the absolute strongest types of demons, equalling the dog, wolf, and falcon demons easily, only being somewhat weaker then a full kitsune.

Snake demons generate an immense amount of extremely deadly poison and acid in their bodies. So deadly is this substance that even a minuscule amount can kill a normal human is seconds, turn a fully grown and healthy oak tree into a pile of sludge, or start a plague that can wipe out entire villages. Hunters and other demons have some degree of immunity to the poison, as chakra and demonic energy can fight it off temporarily, however it takes an S rank demon to be actually immune, and even an A rank demon or hunter will only last around 25 minutes before they fall to the toxin. The only cure for this poison is the blood of the snake demon from whence it originated from, otherwise they would be killed by their own poison. For a hunter who is poisoned by a snake demon, their only hope is to finish off their enemy before they succumb to it.

In their full demon form, this poison is typically only administered through a bite, although extremely powerful ones can secrete it from their skin, or spit it. In human form however, they can secrete it from their nails as well, and again powerful ones can throw globules of it. They can also transform their arms into smaller snakes, which can expand and contract at a speed and to a length which is relative to the strength of the Snake Demon in question.

Some notable Snakes include Saskue, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Kimimaro, Karin, Anko, and Mikoto

_**Dog Demon: **_One of the 5 as well, Dog demons are usually considered to be the most noble of them all. Generally Dog demons are calm, cool, and collected. They carry themselves with an air of extreme pride and dignity, and generally look down on all others outside of the other 5 Great Clans. Unlike many demons, they are not hateful or antagonistic of humans, rather they simply consider themselves so far above humans that they don't see the death of a human as any sort of great loss. They are also extremely powerful, basically equalling the snakes, wolves, cats, tanukis, and the like.

Dog Demons are lightning elementals, their course, white or grey fur rubbing together as they move to generate enormous amounts of charge in their bodies. Rarely do they fire the lightning as bolts from their bodies, as they prefer to be up close, hand-to-hand fighters. Rather, they use this lightning to charge they punches, kicks, and melee weapons in order to greatly increase the power of these blows. They also have the unique ability to charge their legs with lightning, which has the effect of increasing their running speed, allowing them to reach velocities of over 100 MPH over long distances (as apposed to the short bursts of incredible speed that both demons and hunters can do, often called the flash step).

Some notable Dogs include Sakumo and his son Kakashi, Rin, Obito, and Pakkun.

_**Wolf Demon: **_Do NOT mistake them for Dog demons. It may be the last thing that you ever do. Almost the exact opposite if every way, Wolves are rash, impulsive, quick to anger, and often bloodthristy. However wolves are pack animals, and wolf demons show this by their extreme loyalty and devotion. They are known to have a competitive streak in them, which often gets them into trouble, especially with the dog clan. Wolf demons are just as strong as dog demons, but they are more divided, living in many clans of a few out in the wild, rather then one huge centralized clan, and so they are usually unable to compete with their more civilized cousins. Dog and Wolf demons generally hate each other.

In battle, Wolf demons are usually sheer brawlers, using their fangs and claws to tear their enemies apart. They do however have some special abilities which they usually prefer not to use. First off, whereas Dog demons are lightning elementals, Wolves are ice elementals, and often charge their claws with ice energy so that they freeze anything that they slash at. The most powerful amongst them can generate blizzards and freeze over entire villages. Wolves also posses another unique ability in that they can shape their demonic energy into physical form outside of their body, often using them to add extra length to their claws, or even form energy wolves to assist them in battle.

Some notable Wolves include Kiba, his mother Tsume, his sister Hana, Akamaru, and Kuromaru.

_**Tanuki Demon: **_Tanuki Demons (sometimes mistaken for Raccoon demons, but are much more powerful), are childish, playful, known to smile a lot, and have an alliance with the fox clan because of their general similarity (although Tanuki's are more likely to malicious in the intent of their jokes, whereas foxes are usually not). However Tanuki's are also extremely emotional, and are known to have very fragile minds. If one breaks, it is usually thrown out by the rest of the clan, if not simply killed, out of a superstitious fear that the depression is some sort of disease that the rest of the clan will catch.

Tanuki's are sand elementals, but unlike most elementals they are incapable of generating their own element, needing to use ordinary sand from the environment. Their natural home is in the desert, but when they travel outside of the desert (or are casted out from their clan) they carry large amounts of sand with them in a container of some sort, often a large pot or a gourd. They generally don't like to move around or exert themselves in combat, preferring to throw the sand around telekinetically, slamming it into their enemies, enveloping and crushing them, or simply suffocating them in an endless wave.

Some notable Tanukis include Garra, Baki, and Garra's father.

_**Monkey Demon:**_Monkey demons are curious, energetic, often childish, and extremely aggressive. Sometimes violently aggressive, but often simply aggressive in getting and accomplishing what they want. Rarely do they understand the concept of 'no', often simply displacing it with 'not yet', or more likely simply disregarding it at all. The only thing which they have no patience for and refuse to do is recognize humans as potential combat equals. Often they can be careless, and forget how strong they are in proportion to everyone else around them, leading to destructive and sometimes fatal accidents.

Monkey demons have no elemental or special powers to speak of, but their physical abilities surpass those of any other type of demon in existence. Their foot-speed, sheer strength, agility, and physical toughness are all incredibly advanced. Even the weakest of them can snap an ordinary metal sword in their hands with little effort or take a punch from a boxer in the chest and be essentially uninjured. The strongest of them can shatter enormous boulders in a single punch, be slammed into a stone wall by a charging elephant and shrug it off, keep up with a Dog demon on their long distance runs, and dodge an entire barrage of arrows without breaking a sweat...all without the use of demonic energy. Using their demonic energy, they can increase any one of these stats nearly 10 fold for around 1/2 long bursts.

Notable Monkeys include Rock Lee, Sarutobi, and Monkey King Enma (surprisingly, Might Guy is NOT a Monkey Demon).

There are more of course, but that is enough for now.

* * *

**Reviews...YAY!**

**silverspetz: I always do like hearing from you :P Yup, got more time on my hands. Hopefully it will last for more then a few weeks. As for your Sasuke note, I already responded to you via PM, but for the sake of everyone else, I'll summarize it. Sasuke is a bit of a jerk, but is is also partially putting on an act. There is FAR more to him then meets the eye in this story ;) **

**Also, I love criticism (so long as it is valid, which yours always is), so don't worry about that.**

**Nothing1991: I hate to say that I'm not terribly familiar with Dante. In what way should he be more like him?**

**Masahiro 'Night' Seiran: Jyeah...hm hm...I'm a sucker for just a little bit of sweetness interspersed with my adventure. I must say that I surprised even myself a bit with Ino's and Shikamaru's scene.**

**Ccebling: Not that I don't like Inuyasha well enough (obviously there is a bit of inspiration here, although only a little bit), but Naruto is his own character, and giving him an older brother would mess up what I have planned for him. And while I love big fancy swords, Sakura is the one who has a big fancy sword here ;D So, decent idea, but it wouldn't work with my story. Sorry.**

**To everyone else: Thanks once again. It really means the world to me :D **


	4. Chapter 4: Howl to the Moon

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything affiliated with Naruto...yeah I ran out of clever disclaimer ideas...drn.

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Howl to the Moon**_

* * *

Hinata shook with fear as her eyes desperately tried to find an escape route. How could she have been so stupid! She had done exactly what she had promised Tenten that she would not do, and now was being punished for it. She considered briefly trying to run, but knew that she would never be able to outrun the wolf-boy. Even more briefly she considered trying to take him head on, but she had even less of a chance of success in that endeavor. She was trapped, well and truly.

Kiba, for his part, simply stared at her, his face donning a slight smile. She didn't know what it meant. Was he mocking her, knowing that she couldn't possible get away? Was he simply revelling in his easy victory?

Not knowing what else to do, she turned and ran, hoping that she could at least make it far enough to call for help. She didn't make it more then two steps before a strong hand gripped onto her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Whoa, Wait a sec! I ain't gonna hurt ya!" The wolf demon stated, his voice containing just a hint of humor.

Hinata would hear none of it, "Let go of me!" she screamed as she tried desperately to yank her arm out of his hand.

The next thing she knew, she found herself lying on her butt on the ground, Kiba having released her obediently, a look of shock on his face.

"Jeez, don't freak out so much. Like I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya."

Hinata scrambled back to her feet, clumsily, and fell into her own replication of one of Neji's fighting stances. What was he saying? Stupid question. What was really important was, why was he saying it? Could she trust him? Another stupid question. Of course she couldn't. But then why wasn't she dead, or kidnapped by now? She was so confused.

Kiba slowly shook his head as he watched her shaking so violently that she might as well be having a seizure, "What the heck is wrong with you?" he asked bluntly.

Hinata simply stared at him, her eyes narrowed in confusion as she tried to understand his statement.

Kiba continued, "I was watching you for a while. You were so graceful dancing in the flowers, but now you can hardly stand up straight. And when you attacked me earlier today, your movements were slow and sloppy. What changed from when you were dancing?"

Hinata blushed as she heard that he had been watching her dance, "I...I am not strong like the others. I...hold them back. I'm not good enough...good enough to be a hunter." At the last of these words she hung her head in shame. Why on earth was she telling him this?

Kiba on the other hand opened his eyes wide in realization. Her problem was so simple and obvious that he felt that he should have realized it before. She wasn't talentless, like she seemed to think. She just didn't have any confidence in herself.

He hated seeing someone like this, so fragile and vulnerable. It made him want to do or say something to help her. This would take some finesse...something which he almost completely lacked. He thought about his words for a moment before he spoke, "Why do you say that you're not good enough to be a hunter?" he asked.

Hinata looked up in surprise, "Well...I'm just not. My big brother, Neji...he always had all the talent. I can't do anything. Even when we were children, he was always so far ahead of me. I can't even throw a kunai straight."

Kiba wracked his brain to try and remember which one of the others had been Neji. He had heard the others briefly go over their own battles back at the cave, before he had wandered off, and the name certainly sounded familiar. He wasn't usually good with names, but...wasn't Neji the one who had beaten the crud out of Lee? That was ridiculous! Comparing herself to someone who was strong enough to take on a fighting machine like Lee? No wonder she had no confidence in herself. Could he say that to her? He wasn't sure if it would get the right kind of response.

"But...clearly your not clumsy or weak. Why can't you apply the same skills to your combat abilities that you do to your dancing?" It wasn't exactly the same thing, sure, but it got his point across. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, as though wanting to say something that she just couldn't get out, and he took the opportunity to press on more strongly, "You want to be stronger?" he asked.

Hinata took a moment to reply, "Y-Yes." she finally admitted.

Kiba grinned his cocky, wild grin, "I can help you with that."

The Hyuuga girl wasn't sure what she was hearing at first, "W-what? Why would you want to help me?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed in a look that showed a decent amount of annoyance, "You guys think that we killed these people in the village, but we didn't, I guarantee it. I've done some bad things in my time...things that I have made many attempts to atone for...but I am not a killer. I want to help you because you need help, simple as that. You want to be stronger, you have to push yourself hard at it and stop telling yourself that you can't do it. And you also need someone who is willing to put the time and effort into making sure that you hold by that." The wolf demon grinned, "And besides that, it's boring here. Never anything new to do, and most of the nastier demons won't come within 20 miles of this place with the fox-boy around. Doing something like this will be fun."

Hinata turned her head down. That was all well and good if it was true, but still, "How can I trust you?" she asked.

The wolf simply grinned, "If I wanted to hurt you, do you really think that you could run away?" Suddenly he seemed to disappear, and Hinata opened her eyes wide in shock, shooting her head left and right as she tried to see where he had gone to. She yelped and jumped slightly when she felt his hand on her shoulder and breath on her ear, "I promise that I won't hurt you." he continued, "I have no reason to do so."

* * *

Hinata hit the ground hard, panting and clutching her stomach in pain. Kiba appeared in front of her again, still moving so quickly that her Byakugan couldn't even conceptualize what he was doing. The wolf demon sighed, and reached a hand out to pull her back onto her feet. She sighed as she accepted his help, and turned her eyes down in shame.

"I just can't do it." she mumbled.

Kiba glared at her, "I told you before, I don't ever want you to say that again. You can do this just fine, all you need to do is stop being so down on yourself and try harder."

"But I-"

The wolf silenced her by placing a single clawed finger on her lips, "But nothing. I promise you, you can become stronger. If you want to, you can become stronger then your brother, but first you need to stop thinking so hard on it. Stop thinking and just act."

Hinata shook her head, "I don't know if I can do that. I'm too-" she wasn't sure how to finish that statement.

Kiba knew what she meant however, "What are you afraid of? What is making you not want to succeed?"

Hinata blushed, "I'm...I'm not afraid."

"Yes you are. I can see it in you, ya know, the potential. You could be spectacular if you weren't so afraid. But what is it that you fear? Do you fear getting hurt, or hurting me? Do you fear strength and the responsibilities that come with it? Are you afraid of failure? What is it?"

Hinata turned her head away again, and Kiba sighed, "Trust me on this one, okay? I might not know people very well, but I do know fighting and combat. I know it very personally. You need to get over this...but whatever. Let's try again."

Hinata hardly had time to react as he swung an insanely fast strike at her shoulder. On sheer dumb luck she got out of the way in time, but couldn't deflect the second blow to her gut which sent her to her knees.

The Hyuuga girl was bent over in pain, but Kiba was grinning from ear to ear, "SEE! You dodged one attack, which means that you can do it again! Just let go!" He moved again, swiping at her, this time slightly more slowly so as not to overwhelm her.

"I-I didn't mean to." Hinata stated as she was barely able to dodge his attack, "I was just lucky."

Kiba shook his head as he continued to press his attack, "No such thing as luck girl. You acted on instinct, which is what a true fighter does." He tried to sweep her feet out from underneath, but she hopped over his leg, "Give yourself over to the throws of battle, and show me what you can really do!"

The Hyuuga girl deflected two more strikes with her open palm, trying to pay attention both to his words and keep an eye on his attacks, "I-I can't do that! You're asking too much!"

"Think so?" Kiba asked as he threw another punch, only to have it also deflected, "I beg to differ! I'll turn you into a great warrior yet girl! Just tap into your fighting spirit, find a reason to fight, and you'll have it!"

"I'll...I'll try." Hinata stated as she continued to play defence on his attacks.

Kiba's grin widened, "Try is a weak word girl! Don't try to do it, just do it! It's not hard." he quickened the pace of his attacks so slightly that Hinata wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"B-but-"

"DO IT! TELL ME THAT YOU'LL DO IT!" when she continued to block his attacks, he pushed up his speed slightly again, "YELL IT OUT TO THE WORLD! I PROMISED THAT I'D HELP YOU, NOW YOU PROMISE ME THAT YOU WILL FIND YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT!"

"I-I don't know!" she stammered, now with a note of fear and uncertainty in her voice.

"DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! DROP ALL YOUR WORRIES AND INHIBITIONS! JUST YELL IT OUT AND FORCE YOURSELF TO BELIEVE IT! DON'T GIVE YOURSELF THE TIME TO DOUBT YOURSELF! DO IT **NOW!**"

Kiba was now throwing his punches as Hinata at nearly 75% the speed that he had been using at the beginning, but still she blocked them, "I-I don't...a-alright! I will find my fighting spirit! I...I _PROMISE!_"

Kiba didn't know what hit him. One moment he was on his feet, launching another half-effort-ed assault on the girl's defences, the next he was laying on his back almost 5 feet away from where he had been standing. Hinata's eyes were clenched shut tightly, a look of distress on her face, and an open palm was held out in front of her. She suddenly seemed to realize that the attacks had stopped coming and slowly opened her eyes. She dropped her gaze to stare first at her own outstretched hand, then at Kiba, with a look on her face as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

She had hit him.

"You see?" Kiba said with a grin as he rose to his feet, a bit more gingerly then he needed to (honestly he wasn't hurt, but there was no reason to let her know that), "I told you that you could do it."

"I-I did...I did that?" she almost looked as though she were in shock.

"Yeah, you did." Kiba answered, "Is that so hard to believe? I knew you had it in you. Let's go again."

The girl moved once again into a fighting pose, and while she still held that look of fear and apprehension on her face, Kiba couldn't help but notice that she seemed to hold herself just a little bit higher.

* * *

Hinata was breathing heavily, her forehead was covered in sweat, and she felt so weary that she doubted she could lift her arms. In spite of all of this however, there was a smile on her face. She couldn't remember the last time that she had been so excited. It had been frightening at first, the training with someone who by all means should be the enemy, but after a while, once she had gotten into the flow of it, she had found herself having a remarkable amount of fun. Dodging his wild strikes and attacking back when she thought that she found an opening. She had never actually laid a hit on him after her first strike, but somehow, after she had let go of her anxiety, she had seemed to do remarkably better.

Could Kiba be right? Was she better then she thought? She honestly still doubted it. It just seemed far too good to be true. He was clearly going easy on her. She wasn't stupid enough not to realize this. But maybe...maybe with a little bit of help from him, she really could improve.

The wolf-boy himself was now sitting beside her, his condition almost a complete juxtaposition of her own. If you didn't know any better, you would never have guessed that he had been training her so hard, his breath normal and his face free of sweat. It was just further confirmation that he truly was so far ahead of her. But perhaps that was okay. Perhaps one day she might just be able to keep up with him, as well as her brother.

She glanced up to see Kiba staring intently into the sky and she followed his gaze. It didn't take more then a moment to realize what he was looking at. The full moon was out tonight.

"Mesmerizing, isn't it?" the wolf boy asked, "It probably doesn't mean as much to you, but to us wolves the moon is sacred. She is our Goddess. They say that she is most looking after us when the moon is full."

Hinata slowly turned her head away, "My parents were killed on a full moon night." she whispered, "I don't even remember it, really, it was so long ago. But it still makes me think unpleasant thoughts."

Kiba frowned. It was upsetting for him to hear that someone could be so distressed over such a wondrous thing, but he thought that he understood. He knew what it was like to lose your family. Speaking of family...

"I just realized," he stated, "You never told me what your name was."

The girl smiled pleasantly, "Hinata. My name is Hyuuga Hinata."

Kiba smiled. Hinata...it was a nice, pleasant sounding name. It suited her. Almost as soon as his smile appeared, it was gone. Something else was tugging at the back of his mind.

"Hyuuga?" he asked, "As in..."

Hinata nodded at his unfinished question, "Yes, my brother and I are the last of the southern branch of the Hyuuga Noble Family of the Byakugan."

Although Hinata couldn't see it from where she sat, Kiba's face paled and his heart nearly stopped from shock. It couldn't be. It just...couldn't be.

* * *

_**Kiba's Flashback: 12 years ago**_

_The complex was burning. Wolves were everywhere. The Hyuuga were in shambles. It was unlike anything that any of them had ever seen before. How could it have possibly happened? They should have seen it coming a mile away. Literally, they should have seen it coming. But they hadn't. Somehow, unexplainably, all four of their guardsmen had missed this enormous advancement of wolves from the forest depths._

_Another white-eyed, long haired Hyuuga man hit the ground as a set of claws sliced into his throat. It wasn't an attack. It was a massacre._

_"REGROUP! FALL BACK TO THE MAIN BUILDING! PROTECT LORD HIASHI! AAAARRRGGHH!" the man yelling was suddenly downed by a blast of demonic energy which exploded on contact._

_Two Hyuuga warriors appeared from deeper into the Hyuuga complex, their Byakugan activated, both clearly ready to fight. They never even saw their enemies coming. Somehow, their Byakugan eyes were rendered totally useless, the wolf demons almost becoming completely invisible the moment that their bloodline abilities were activated. Two Hyuugas stood up, two Hyuugas fell down._

_A talented young Wolf Demon boy reveled as his claws sliced through Hyuuga flesh. He had never been a sadistic person by nature, but for these Hyuugas he would make an exception. They deserved it. They deserved to die, painfully and mercilessly._

_Kiba still couldn't believe the stream of events which had led up to this moment. They would never have been able to attack the Hyuuga clan without 'his' help. 'He' was the one who had given them the seal which had made them temporarily invisible to the powers of the Byakugan. 'He' was the one who had told them when best to strike. It was all 'him'._

_"KIBA!" another voice called out to him, "We're needed over at the other side of the compound! There are more Hyuuga warriors showing up!"_

_Kiba nodded at his close friend, Akamaru, and the two of them began jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards greater violence and bloodshed._

_If there was one thing that the two of them knew, it was that not one Hyuuga would be walking away alive after this day. And to be quite honest, Kiba was more then a little glad._

_The main building of the Hyuuga complex was on fire. Half of it had already burned to the ground, and Kiba sensed that the other half wasn't long behind. There was someone in there that Kiba was going to find. Someone whom he was going to kill. He wasn't going to let any of the other wolves get to this prize before he did. They wouldn't steal this trophy from him._

_Hyuuga Hiashi was his._

_Thee more Hyuuga warriors lay dead behind him as he marched through the opulent palace. Death he had become, and none could stand in his way. The power felt good. It felt oh so very good to give these wretched humans the punishment that they deserved._

_"Don't give up! We cannot see him, but we must protect Hiashi-sama! Our lives are nothing compared to his!"_

_They were right about that. Their lives were indeed nothing._

_It wasn't long before Kiba reached his destination. Hyuuga Hiashi sat on his throne, so calmly, as though his entire world wasn't crashing down around him. He looked down at Kiba with condescending eyes, although Kiba could tell by the way that his eyes darted left and right that he couldn't truly tell where the wolf-boy was._

_"So...who dares to come before me?" the Hyuuga lord asked, "I do not consort with low-life, demon commoners."_

_Kiba's feral growl would have sent any normal man running in terror, but it did not appear to faze Hiashi, "I am Kiba, of the mighty wolf clan! You will pay for your crimes Hyuuga Hiashi! You think that you are above me! Why? Because you're a Hyuuga? A mere human! You have never seen the power of a wolf demon! Tonight, you will die!"_

_Slowly, Hyuuga Hiashi rose from his seat, "And what, might I ask, are my crimes? Why should you desire my death."_

_Kiba's eyes narrowed, "You are a Hyuuga. You're existence is crime enough."_

_"Very well then." The Hyuuga Lord's eyes narrowed in fury and the veins around them bulged out as he activated his Byakugan, "Proceed."_

_Kiba attacked first, his claws aimed directly for Hiashi's throat. The old man however skillfully twisted out of the way and slammed the palm of his hand into Kiba's back as he flew by. Kiba was still invisible to the Hyuuga, but the older man was a veteran of many battles and he didn't need to rely on his eyes completely. He was handicapped, sure, but the wolf-boy knew that this would still be the fight of his life. Under any ordinary circumstances, he would certainly be dead._

_The fight raged on for what seemed like hours. First more Hyuuga tried to intervene, but they were quickly interrupted by another squad of wolves. Nobody would cheat Kiba out of his kill. Nobody._

_But it seemed that Hiashi might be able to do just that in the end. Amazingly, even fighting blind and up against a particularly skilled C class demon, he was prevailing. Kiba was being pushed back ruthlessly._

_Panting, injured, and weakened with dozens of small bruises that had appeared on his arms and chest at each of the Hyuuga's two-finger strikes, Kiba knew that he needed to think of something fast to end this fight in his favor. The only reason that the Hyuuga had not paralyzed his body with strikes yet was that his blindness continued to make him miss his target by only a few millimeters each time. Eventually, Kiba knew that he would land a real hit and it would all be over._

_The wolf-boy growled and kicked the ground in frustration. A small rock bounced forward a few feet, creating a sharp sound every time it hit the stone floor. Hyuuga Hiashi reacted to the sound in an instant, striking out at empty air with his palm as it passed by him. Kiba's eyes opened wide in shock for a moment, and then his face shifted into a feral grin._

_Slowly, Kiba reached down, picking up a small handful of pebbles from the small stone garden which was in the corner of the Hyuuga's throne room. "You lose, Hiashi." he growled, and he flung the pebbles in all different directions, causing them to hit the ground and walls around the fighters, each one cracking loudly as it hit the stone around them._

_Hiashi's eyes opened wide in terror and he began striking the air around him randomly, hoping to hit his foe._

_The Hyuuga Lord's hopes were in vain. Kiba's claws flew right through the older man's jugular, splashing his blood on the floor around him. Hiashi was dead before he even hit the ground._

_A dozen wolves howling at the moon sounded out from the surrounding area as the rest of the pack celebrated the boy's victory over the Hyuuga elder, "Today! The pup is a full warrior!" one of the older wolves called out. Kiba couldn't help but grin at their antics. His exuberance didn't last long however. They still had more to do, and they wouldn't rest until every last Hyuuga was dead._

_"Let's go!" Kiba yelled, "Wipe them out! Leave no man alive!"_

_Kiba dashed into another hallway, determined to find any stragglers remaining in the palace. He rounded a corner and saw, to his surprise, three Hyuuga warriors standing together, all guarding a single door. Kiba wondered what could possibly be important enough to merit these three standing guard here in the middle of an invasion. Perhaps the now dead Hyuuga Lord's mate was behind there? Kiba's evil grin returned at the thought and he charged forward. Warriors though these three might be, their skills paled in comparison to their lord's, and they quickly fell._

_Kiba opened the door, and slipped inside, expecting to see either the lord's personal chambers, or else some sort of panic room. What he found instead was something quite different._

_A nursery. The entire room was done in a soothing light lavender color, the ground soft and plush as a sudden contrast to the hard wood outside. A single, tiny cradle was in the corner, with one of those little mini spinning things hanging from the ceiling over it (Kiba didn't know what they were called. Wolf children didn't have them). The floor was covered with at least a dozen or so infant's playthings. There were two adult-sized chairs, but everything else was built for pups._

_There were two figures standing in the corner of the room, both small, one more-so then the other. The taller of the two, a young Hyuuga boy with long hair, stood in front of the smaller one, his face sweating and his hands shaking with fear, but a look of absolute determination on his face. Kiba wasn't an expert on humanity, but he guessed that the boy was around 6 in human years. Just a pup. Kiba couldn't see the one behind him, but it seemed to be even smaller._

_Kiba took a few steps towards the boy, who stood his ground admirably. Even if he couldn't see the danger, he must realize that it is here._

_"Who's there?" The boy asked bravely, the tone of his voice expressing a bravery that he did not feel._

_Instead of answering, Kiba backhanded the boy across the face, just hard enough to knock him into the wall without knocking him unconscious. He slashed his claws at the cowering creature behind the boy, intending to end it's life as he had all the others._

_His razor-sharp claws never reached their target._

_It was a girl. Tiny, not even 4 years old, helpless. He stared at the tiny girl in shock, holding his death-bringing claws out over her head, but apparently frozen in their attempt to end the tiny girl. Kiba coudln't help it, she looked so innocent with her large, pale eyes staring up at him, pleading with him, begging for mercy. She held a small stuffed animal in her arms, clutching it to her chest as though for some sort of protection. She was just a pup._

_Kiba grunted and steeled himself, trying again to lash out at the girl. He told himself that whatever she was now, if left alive she would grow into a deadly hunter. He would be doing the world a favor to rid it of her. And yet, once again, his claws stopped just short of cutting into her. Slowly, the girl raised her hand, and placed it on one of Kiba's fingers. She couldn't see him but somehow she knew that he was there. Her had was so tiny. His own hand was larger then her entire arm. She continued to look at him with those pleading eyes, as though asking him to please not kill her. Kiba felt as though his heart had melted in her hands. She was just a pup._

_He heard the wooden door creak open again and yanked his arm away. He turned to see Akamaru standing in the doorway. The other wolf-boy looked so much like Kiba that they might have been twins. The only distinguishing feature was Akamaru's crimson-red hair._

_"Kiba, what are you doing?" Akamaru asked, his gaze falling down to the girl, who was now staring at him in fear, and the boy, who was shakily pulling himself back onto his feet, "Come on Kiba, just finish the job and let's get out of here."_

_For a brief moment, Kiba couldn't reply, his mind too overwhelmed. Finally, he answered, "They're just pups."_

_Akamaru looked incredulous, "Kiba, it doesn't matter! They're humans! Worse! they're Hyuugas! You have to finish the job, now!"_

_Kiba slowly shook his head, he knew what Akamaru was saying but... "I-I can't." he couldn't believe his complete 180' from just a moment ago._

_Akamaru nodded, "Fine, I understand. We can all be susceptible to pups. I'll do it for you."_

_The red-haired boy lunged, "NO!" Kiba yelled out, grabbing his friend by the shirt in mid-leap and throwing him into the wall, "Please Akamaru, don't!"_

_The younger wolf slowly rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his head, "Kiba, you know that I'm your friend, but you also know the repercussions of showing mercy to a human, regardless of it's stature. If the pack finds out about this, you'll be exiled."_

_Kiba slowly nodded, he knew why the girl was effecting him so, and Akamaru did too, "Please buddy. Just...please."_

_Akamaru sighed, "All-right Kiba, I'll help you this one time. We'll get the pup's out. But you know that the others will find out, with or without me telling them. Eventually."_

_Kiba nodded his understanding, "Thanks, man...thanks."_

_Akamaru walked over to the boy, who was finally back on his feet, his Byakugan eyes shifting around wildly for the voices which came from beings that he could not see, "We'll have to knock them out, so that they don't scream and shout and alert the whole pack." with great speed and jarring force, he cracked his knuckles against the boy's forehead, instantly knocking him unconscious. Feeling horrible with himself, for more then one reason, Kiba repeated the act on the little girl, being considerably more gentle then Akamaru had been, though the girl still was knocked unconscious. The wolf-boys picked up the children in their arms and slung them over their shoulders as they transformed into their full beast forms. It would be faster that way._

_"There's a human village a few miles from here. Until tonight, it was in the Hyuuga's jurisdiction. They'll be safe there." Akamaru continued._

_Kiba was too ashamed to come up with any better plan, so he nodded. He knew that the kids couldn't stay with them._

_Quickly, stealthily, without alerting the rest of the pack, the two wolf demons dashed off into the night._

* * *

_**End Kiba's Flashback**_

Kiba's face broke out in a cold sweat. Why the HELL hadn't he recognized the Byakugan before! He berated himself incessantly at his own stupidity. In all honesty, it wasn't really fair to blame himself so badly. He had never seen a Byakugan before that day, 12 years ago, and he had never seen one since. More then that, wolf demons like himself didn't usually rely on visuals to recognize others. They relied on smell, and this girl spelled nothing like the Hyuuga complex.

Still, how could he be so stupid! She was the girl. She HAD to be. She was the right age, about 16 in human years, she had the same almost-black hair with just a hint of lavender in it, she still looked at him with those incredulous eyes which seemed to be pleading with him not to hurt her.

Would she recognize him? No, that was impossible. She hadn't even been able to see him at the time, and even if she had, she was only 3 or 4 at the time. She wouldn't remember him, though he would never forget her.

"Kiba?" she asked when he didn't respond to her, "Are you okay?"

Kiba was broken out of his own thoughts and turned back to her. This couldn't be a coincidence. The Moon Goddess had to have had her hand in all of it. He had made a decision to look out for her, 12 years ago, and he was going to continue with that decision today.

"Yeah, I'm fine Hinata. So...Hyuuga huh? That's special. I'm sorry that you're parents were killed."

Hinata turned her head away, "Well...I don't really remember them. I was only 4. My brother told me that they were harsh people, but good people. I had a sister too, Hanabi, but she also died. I don't remember her either."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. He hadn't seen a second girl at the time, but perhaps she had been in a different part of the palace. Perhaps they had already gotten to her when Kiba had saved Hinata. He decided not to dwell on it. What's done is done, and he had come to grips with his actions a long time ago.

Another thought hit Kiba, "Will you come back here?" he asked.

Hinata turned her eyes away, apparently a common reaction from the girl, "I'll try. I don't know if I'll be able to get away from the others again."

Suddenly, the girl sat up straight, and her eyes opened wide in shock and fear, "Oh dear! The others...they'll be wondering where I am right now! I've stayed too long!"

Kiba nodded his understanding and jumped to his feet, "Alright, do you want me to escort you back?"

Hinata shook her head, "No, Neji-san will see you coming from a quarter mile away. I'll be fine, for now." She turned and began running off. A moment before she reached the trees, she turned back, "Next time, you have to tell me your story!" she called out, and with that she was gone.

Kiba snorted darkly. His story? Where would he even begin?

* * *

Hinata sighed as she looked out her window at the moon. She had been right of course, the others had been angry with her when she told them that she had gone off alone. Tenten and Neji were especially furious with her. She hadn't told them about what had really happened. They wouldn't understand. They wouldn't believe her. But she knew...she knew that Kiba was a good person. She didn't know why, but she knew that she could trust him...that he wouldn't hurt her.

He was right, really, the moon was beautiful on nights like this. They still bothered her, despite this, although she didn't really know why. She couldn't remember that night at all, really. All that she knew was that Neji became so much more angry during every full moon. Perhaps that was why it bothered her. She loved her brother dearly, and didn't like to see him so upset.

But Kiba...he was so blatantly different from everyone else that she knew. Tenten, Sakura, even Shikamaru and the others, they all tiptoed around her and coddled her like a baby. When she had asked for instruction, they had given it gladly, but for as light a touch that they had used, it wasn't really of any value, and it merely confirmed what she already knew, that she was so much weaker then them.

As for Neji...she had asked for him to train her once. It was not a process which she wished to repeat. He had gone from the caring brother to brutal drill sergent, beating her into the ground with ruthless force, berating her dismal strength, telling her that she was weak, and worthless. He was merciless. It had taken her almost four days to recover from his beating. She still didn't know why he had done it. Perhaps he had hoped that it would motivate her somehow. But it had done no such thing. She didn't want to do that, ever again.

But Kiba...when he had fought with her, he had been relentless, certainly, but not unkind or harsh. Unlike Neji, he had insisted over and over again that she could do it right, that she did have the strength. He had pushed her, but never really hurt her, and somehow had coaxed her into pushing back. And when she did, the most remarkable thing had happened. She had actually had fun. For just a moment she had let go, and found that when she stopped shaking in fear and apprehension, she could do things that she hadn't expected herself to be able to do.

If possible, she would return to the fields. With any luck, perhaps he would find her again. She wondered how he was doing.

* * *

Kiba had washed himself in the river, scrubbing himself with mud and aromatic herbs before he had returned to the cave. The others woudn't suspect a thing. He often went out on walks and came back smelling like the forest itself. Just so long as they didn't know where he had been, or who he had seen. Would they be angry with him? Probably not. If anything, they would probably be hopeful that he had made a connection with one of the hunters. But right now, he didn't want to deal with the questions when he himself didn't know the answers. The mud-bath would fool them for now.

All except for Naruto. Their alpha's nose was second only to Kiba's own, and as much as Kiba had tried to remove the scent from himself, Naruto had known the truth. That was why they now sat together, Naruto looking Kiba over with a scrutinous, though compassionate, eye.

"How did your walk go?" The kitsune asked.

Kiba shrugged, "Better then I thought that it would be, but you already knew that."

Naruto laughed, placing his hand over his mouth so as not to alert the others, "Okay, so what happened?"

The wolf boy repeated his shrug, "Nothing much. She didn't trust me at first, and I'm still not sure that she does, but she said something that didn't exclude us from meeting again."

Naruto nodded, "This is great! If you can show her that we're not all evil, then maybe she can convince the others, and there won't have to be any deaths over all of this."

Kiba grimaced slightly. He didn't like the idea of having such a big responsibility placed on him. Still, "Yeah, fine. I can do that. Just don't tell anyone else about her yet. Especially Lee. Whatever trust she has for me, I don't think that it would extend to all of them. And there are certain things that I need to work out before I can answer anyone's questions."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What kind of things?"

The wolf boy turned his head away. Naruto was the only person in the pack who knew Kiba's past, "She's a Hyuuga. Her name is Hinata Hyuuga."

Naruto's face shifted from exuberant to concerned, "Oh, sorry man. That must really suck for you."

Kiba nodded, "Yeah." he stated. Although truthfully, on the inside, he wasn't quite so sure.

* * *

**Notes: WHEW! That was a hard to write chapter, let me tell you. It didn't come out quite as well as I had hoped, but I think that it's still pretty good. It also made things seem like Kiba and Hinata are the main couple, THEY ARE NOT! However, their beginning sets up most of the others, so it was important to start it out first. Next time, we'll get deeper into Naruto and Sakura...specifically Naruto. Possibly next chapter, and if not then definately the one after that, we'll get into Naruto's flashback.**

**As for Kiba's flashback, some of his actions might surprise you, but rest assured that there is ample reason for everything that he did, from slaughtering the Hyuuga to being frozen in place by child-Hinata. There is more to his backstory (as well as Neji's and Hinata's). It will all make sense soon.**

* * *

**Reviews: Yay!**

**Kuro-Ookami4: Wow, thanks man. See, I usually love AU stories, but if you don't, and still like mine, that's something to be proud of I guess. So thanks :D**

**9-tailed reaper: Sakura's sword is the same as Zabuza's. And yes, it does have more powers then just what you saw, but here's the kicker..._Sakura_ doesn't know about them yet. Just it's original owner, and Tsunade. )**

**Ccebling: As much as appreciate the input, here's the thing. In my story, hunters use weapons, demons do not (they only use their own powers). Two reasons, 1) they see them as crutches for weaker beings and like to show off how they are still so much stronger then humans without them, and 2) they are uncomfortable using them because they do have a beastly side and prefer to be closer to nature, as it were.**

**Blood Seraph: He he...Naruto is very powerful, yes, but there are those who are SO much more powerful then him. Kyuubi is so strong that even the other 4 S-ranked demons fear it's wrath, and each of those 4 are all at least 10 times stronger then Naruto. As for Naruto's fox-fire, yes, his will is significanly stronger then most's, but there still are those who can reject the psychological and spiritual effects of his powers. As for Minato (a.k.a. Flying Thunder God :P) I have a definate plan for him, and he does figure heavily into Naruto's story, but no, he is not Naruto's daddy here (I thought that it would be too obvious of a giveaway, considering that it is already cannon in the _real_ story). And finally, I think that you have a good set-up for their backstory orders :D that is probably exactly what I will do (since most other people also seem to want to do Naruto next).**

**Footster26: Oh, don't worry, they'll come. Although it will be shaky for a while ;) And as for why Kyuubi disowned him, that will feature heavily in his first and second flashbacks.**

**Everyone else: Arigato...your kind words mean so much to me.**


	5. Chapter 5: A Fox's Tale

Long Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Nor will I ever. I do however own this story and everything in it. Therefore, one could make the argument that I actually DO own Naruto to a degree. Specifically I own the version of him that appears in this story. In a world where everything is relative to the viewpoint of the observer, how can anyone truly claim that they own anything, except by virtue of their own reality? EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE!

* * *

_**Chapter 5: A Fox's Tale**_

* * *

Naruto flipped through the air as he jumped from tree to tree, his face hidden by the dark travelling cloak that was wrapped around his form. Two more figures, similarly clothed, followed behind him. Gone were his fox-like ears and tail. Gone were his claws and fangs. If one didn't know any better, it would be impossible to recognize Naruto as a Kitsune demon at this moment, which is exactly what he wanted.

The villiage was ahead of him, his eyes glimpsing the thatched, cone shaped rooftops which were dotted here and there in the center of a large depression in the earth. It was a nice, quaint town. It was also almost assuredly the place where the hunters were currently residing, which means that they would have to be extremely careful. He, Sasuke, and Garra were powerful, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Most of the humans in the villiage didn't know that they even existed, but Naruto did have a couple contacts within, and he wanted to know what the deal was with these deaths that Sakura and her hunters were talking about. It couldn't just be a lie. Naruto could tell if someone was lying, and the beautiful pink-haired girl was not lying. At least, not to her own knowledge. There had to be something here going on that Naruto didn't yet know about.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out from behind the fast-moving blonde, "We need to slow down! If we come up to the villiage going at full speed, that Hyuuga is bound to catch sight of us!"

The kitsune nodded his consent and dashed onto the ground before skidding to a halt, "Right, gotcha! Better to be careful about this."

Sasuke dropped down beside him, "Don't you ever stop to think? How an idiot like you got to be our leader I'll never know."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but grinned, "Well at least I'm not a total jackass like you, eh? At least the others like me."

Sasuke slowly shook his head, "Shut up and lets go. We did have a job to do, didn't we?"

Garra appeared behind the two of them, "If you two are going to stop fighting like an old married couple, I'd prefer to get this over with." and the Tanuki demon walked off in the direction of the village

Naruto and Sasuke grumbled slightly before following after him.

* * *

The young kitsune glanced left and right as he stood ouside the wood and straw house. He and the two others were standing in a wooded area just around the outskirts of the viliage, his contact waiting inside. He was honestly somewhat surprised that they had gotten this far without any incident. A Hyuuga can see for ages, through walls and trees, and even out the back of their own head so long as their Byakugan is activated. They had expected more trouble then this. They had only come because it was so important to find out what was happening.

"Alright," Naruto whispered to his companions, "you guys wait out here. This guy trusts me, and besides that I don't want anyone showing up uninvited without warning. Keep an eye out."

Sasuke scoffed and Garra silently nodded. Naruto ducked down through the doorway and entered the house.

Inside was dark and small, almost claustraphobic in nature. The house had only a single room, and no windows, the only light coming from a small fireplace in one corner. Opposite to the fireplace was a wide, flat pile of straw which looked as though it might have been used as a bed. On the walls were various tools, including a hammer, a small hatchet, and on old rusted-out shovel. In the center of the house was a small table with twin chairs, all of which appeared to have been hand carved.

Sitting in the chair opposite Naruto was a middle aged man with black hair pulled back into a short topknot (with a slight bit of greying at the temples), a bit of wrinkles around the edges of his eyes, and a long scar that ran over the bridge of his nose.

Naruto nodded in greeting, "Iruka, it's good to see you again."

To the Kitsune's surprise Iruka didn't give him his usual jovial smile. Instead the man looked at him with something akin to apprehension.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Iruka asked, "Don't you know what's happening here around here?"

Naruto slowly shook his head, "You mean it's true? People really are dying?"

Iruka now looked surprised, "Naruto, I have known you for 21 years now, and we know each other very well. I trust you Naruto, but...I don't know what to believe any more." the man took a deep breath, "Three people have shown up dead...and given the state of their bodies, well...I don't have any other explination. It has to have been one of you."

Naruto slowly shook his head, "No...no it can't be. I trust every single person in my family, and I know that none of them could do something like that."

Iruka slowly shook his head, "Naruto, you don't understand. I cannot simply explain to you what has happened to those bodies, but if you saw them you would understand. There is only one being in this area which could possibly have killed those men, and that being is one of yours."

Naruto glared at Iruka. He was growing angry, "What would you know about it, huh? You know me...you don't know my people."

The human man glanced up at him, "I know one of them."

Naruto's face paled, "You...you're trying to say that...no. I don't believe it. I trust him like he was my own brother."

Iruka sighed, "Naruto...why did you come here?"

"I was hoping that you could clear this up for me, obviously."

The man who appeared older sighed, "No Naruto, I mean why did you come here, to this village, 21 years ago. What made you leave the Kitsunes? You must have known that sooner or later, no matter how hard you tried, people would hate you. Why did you do it?"

Naruto turned his head away, "Where are they keeping these bodies?" he growled at his old friend, "I need to see myself."

Iruka sighed, "You won't be able to get there easily. The village will attack you the moment that you try to get anywhere near it." Naruto glared at him and he grudgingly continued, "Since you seem to be so determined, I suppose I have to tell you. The village dug a pit out behind the leaders house, where they dumped the bodies. The way that I understand it, the hunters have been looking real close at them."

The Kitsune nodded, "Thank you Iruka." he whispered, and turned back to the door.

"Naruto." Iruka called back to him, just before he reached the door. Naruto froze for a moment before turning back to his old friend. Iruka hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Just...be careful alright. There's something weird about all of this."

Naruto smiled, "I will my friend, and again, thank you." He turned away and began thinking, always a dangerous pastime.

* * *

_**Naruto's Flashback: 41 years ago**_

_Naruto no Kitsune grinned with jubilance as he dashed through the courtyards of the mighty palace of the Kitsune's, rulers of the 1st great demonic kingdom. He was so thrilled because, after nearly 30 years of hard practice, he had finally achieved the goal that all Fox demons dreamed of. He had grown his second tail. He was now a full-fledged Kitsune! And after being called a weakling and a failure for his entire life. He had worked himself to exhaustion every day and every night to prove that he deserved to hold the title, son of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and now he had done it._

_And now, he was here, standing amongst the other Kitsunes, prepared to go through his coming of age ceremony. 30 years old...still a kit if he was a mere Fox demon, but when a Fox becomes a Kitsune, they are considered to have reached adulthood regardless of age._

_Naruto looked up as he was running and saw a familliar man standing near the gates to the palace, "YAHIKO!" he called out in joy, "ARE WE READY TO GO YET?"_

_The 6-tailed Kitsune, Yahiko, smiled an almost fatherly smile as he watched Naruto run up to him, "Naruto, you're early. Konan and Nagato aren't even here yet. We'll have to wait for them."_

_Outside of the mighty Kyuubi, Yahiko was the single strongest Kitsune in the clan. He was tall and handsome, and many of the vixens were after him. He also had blonde hair like Naruto, though less yellowish and more orange. He even had a somewhat similar look to him as Naruto, which lead to some interesting rumors. Was Naruto actually of royal blood or was he simply taken in by a Kyuubi who had been unable to produce any other heir. The Kyuubi's hair was as deep red as blood, and had been extremely adamant about not revealing when Naruto had occured or whom his other parent was supposed to be. Naruto didn't really care, but he had to admit that every once in a while, he wondered. Yahiko was so cool, so strong, and so supportive of Naruto's dreams._

_Today, nothing would hamper Naruto's joys, not even the excruciating idea that he had to wait for the others (and he really, REALLY hated waiting)._

_"That's alright!" The young kitsune replied, "As long as they get here soon. I really can't wait to get going."_

_Yahiko smirked and ruffled Naruto's hair, "Don't worry firecracker, you'll get your time in the spotlight today."_

_Naruto gave one of his trademark grins for just a split second, but then his face fell into shadow, "Is...uh...is there any chance that Kyuubi will be coming with us?"_

_The look on Yahiko's face mirrored Naruto's own, "The Kyuubi no Kitsune is a very busy demon Naruto. Our master wishes you luck, but will not be joining us today."_

_Naruto nodded, but didn't say anything. He wasn't surprised, just dissapointed. This was his special day, and even though he had grown accustomed to being ignored he didn't think that it was too much to ask for one day with the only parent that he knew._

_Thankfully, he was knocked out of his bad mood by a familliar sound, "NARUTO! WAIT UP!"_

_Before Naruto could react, a black little ball of fur canon-balled into his chest and knocked the wind from his lungs, "NARUTO! I'M SO EXCITED! CAN I COME WITH YOU?"_

_Naruto grinned as he mimicked the hair-ruffling motion that Yahiko had used on him, "No way Konohamaru! This is a super special mission for Kitsunes only! You don't get to come until you get your second tail."_

_Konohamaru pouted as he moved back away from Naruto. The much younger fox-boy was a close friend of Naruto's, although perhaps devotee would be a more accurate term. Not the strongest warrior by any stretch of the imagination, Konohamaru had yet to grow a second tail (not that this was a surprise, most Fox demons did not), and even if he had this his combat and killing instincts were still at best mediocre. He was small even for his age, just over half Naruto's height, and was still too young to be able to hold much of a human form, still pretty much covered by black fur save for his face. But he was a good kid, mischievous but goodnatured, loyal and kind._

_He didn't look quite so good-natured now however, "Aw, why can't I come?" he whined._

_Yahiko smirked, "Don't worry too much Konohamaru. Just keep working hard and growing stronger and one day you'll get yourself a second tail as well, then you can go on your own adventure."_

_Konohamaru rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, but anyways Naruto, show me some of your awesome fox-fire!"_

_Naruto grinned and held his hand up, summoning a surge of the energy that now coursed through his body into his palm. A moment later, a tiny flicker of bluish light appeared floating around his hand, "What do you think?" he asked, sounding alltogether too pleased with himself, "Pretty cool eh?"_

_Konohamaru looked unmoved, "LAME!"_

_"Whatdaya mean lame?" Naruto protested, "I'd like to see you try it!"_

_"Bah! That thing couldn't hurt a Caterpillar Demon! Not like Yahiko's!"_

_Yahiko grinned, "Don't be so sure Konohamaru. The power in fox-fire is compressed into a very tight form that makes it seem like it doesn't have nearly as much power as it actually does. That little flicker of flame could still destroy a small building." Yahiko's grin became equally as mischievous__ as Konohamaru's "Of course, you're right when you say that it doesn't hold a candle to mine."_

_The older blonde held out his own hand in much the same way that Naruto had, but instead of a flicker of light that was hardly larger then the flame on a candle, he generated a golden orb of fire roughly the size of his own head._

_Konohamaru was ecstatic, "Wow Yahiko! Now that's some impressive fire!"_

_Yahiko responded by tossing the fireball directly into the air. Once it reached just out of sight it detonated, creating a shockwave of flames that, for a brief moment, painted the sky akin to a sunset._

_Konohamaru whooped and cheered like he was still a mere kit at the display, while Naruto sulked. Yahiko noticed Naruto's look and began laughing, "Don't you worry about it Naruto. Before long I'm sure that your fox-fire will be even stronger then mine."_

_"One would hope however that he would have more control over it however. I swear sometimes you act more like a child then they do Yahiko."_

_The taller blonde turned his head to see two figures walking in the direction of the group, one a thin male with limp red hair, the other a female with deep purple hair adorned with a flower._

_Yahiko grinned, "Konan, Nagato, you made it! Well met, friends!"_

_Konan rolled her eyes, "And you as well Yahiko. Tell me, what possessed you to go showing off your fox-fire just now?" she asked, "Did it occur to you that the others might suspect that we were under attack?"_

_Yahiko scoffed, "Everyone knows that today the crown prince has grown his second tail. Anyone with a brain will know that it was just a demonstration."_

_Nagato shrugged, "It's not that big of a deal Konan. Yahiko's flame color signature is instantly recognizable and everyone knows that he can't resist showing off. Anyways, we should be heading out. The group is all here and we're eating up daylight."_

_Konohamaru pouted, "Are you sure that I can't come along?"_

_Nagato shook his head, "I'm sorry little one, but at your level this trip would be far too dangerous. Don't worry, Naruto will be back before sunset tomorrow and then you can play all you want."_

_The little black fox looked for a brief moment like he would protest but instead he quietly walked away._

_Konan turned to Naruto and smiled, "Are you ready for this Naruto?"_

_The young Kitsune looked determined, "I was born ready! Believe it!"_

_Yahiko rolled his eyes, "Don't say that."_

* * *

_The woods that surrounded the palace of the mighty Kyuubi were thick and treacherous. Lesser demons could be found around every corner, the ground was covered with marshes that would swallow you up if you were not careful, even the trees would grab at you and tear you apart if they got the chance to. The forest was also one of the most heavily travelled areas in any of the Five Demon Kingdoms, because it served as the only trade route from Kyuubi's Kingdom to Sakumo's._

_Of course, one didn't just travel through the forest itself. That would be suicide.__ The forest was bisected by an enormous road, just over 100 feet in width and continuing on for miles through the forest. Every 7 miles there was a well for the use of travellers, and at the edges of the road were wards placed by monks for the purpose of keeping the evil contained in the forest off the road. Because it was expedient to keep the humans living in the area happy, the Kyuubi was more then happy to let them continue to use it._

_Of course, this didn't mean that the road was safe. There were still demons in the forest which were more then powerful enough to get through the wards, which is why any travelling merchant who went through these parts who had any sort of brain would hire a group of Demon Hunters as protection for the journey._

_Of course, there weren't many Demon Hunters in the world who could last more then a few moments against Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato._

_"So you know what the plan is, right Naruto?" The tall blonde asked._

_Naruto grinned and nodded. The test, a sort of an initiation for every Fox Demon who made the transformation into a Kitsune, was simple enough. They were going to attack and raid a wealthy merchant travelling through the forest. The goal was simple, get in, take the most valuable object that they had, and get out without any casualities and, most importantly, without anyone realizing that the object had been stolen. The Foxes were pranksters by nature and this was the ultimate prank. The humans had to get away alive and believing that they had lost nothing until they got out of the forest._

_Naruto's job was simple enough. While Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan staged a false attack, distracting the hunters that were paid to protect the caravan, Naruto would slip in unseen and swap out their most valuable object with a fake that he would create there and then by putting an illusion on a worthelss rock. Then they would stage a fake retreat, and, with any luck, their deception wouldn't be found out until much later._

_It wasn't like it was the most increadible adventure in the world, but it was traditional, and it did have more then a small degree of danger in it. The Hunters were getting smarter and stronger, making the caravans very well defended._

_Yahiko held up his hand and broke Naruto out of his thoughts, "Here we are," he whispered under his breath, "And there's the caravan, just as our intel said."_

_Naruto glanced over Yahiko's shoulders and saw their target rolling down the dirt road. It was a large craft, pulled by a team of four horses, and even so it looked as though they were struggling to make the object move across the ground. A small man in a heavy, hooded brown cloak sat in front of the caravan and directed the horses, his face impossible to see. Two more men on horses rode on either side of the caravan as well, similarly cloaked._

_Nagato was the first to speak up, "Alright Naruto. We're going to step in and cause some chaos. All you have to do is get into that caravan and make the switch."_

_Naruto nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I already know what the job is. C'mon, I'm tired of waiting."_

_Yahiko grinned, "Alright then. Let's go."_

* * *

_The cloaked man glanced up from his reigns as he felt, rather then saw, a change in the environment. How curious...there was a man standing in the middle of the road. He was tall, had strong, boyish features, shining blonde hair, and even from this long distance it was impossible to miss the confidance that he oozed off. The cloaked man pulled up on his reigns and the caravan came to a halt._

_"And who might you be?" the cloaked man called out, loud enough so that so that the man could hear him clearly._

_The confidant blonde man grinned, "These are dangerous territories friend. The Demon Lord Kyuubi owns these woods ya know."_

_The cloaked man nodded, "Yes, but we do have a pair of pretty good Hunters with us for protection," he gestured to the two men on horseback, who's hands were currently resting just a little too nonchalantly over their laps, "And besides, the Kyuubi doesn't have any problem with people using the road for transportation, and doesn't go out killing people on a whim. I think that we are pretty safe for now."_

_The blonde man grinned savagely, "Think again."_

* * *

_Naruto slipped behind the caravan, a wide grin plastered on his face. This was far too easy. With any luck, he could slip in, make the switch, and slip out before Yahiko and the others even had to start any fighting._

_Quiet as a mouse, Naruto slipped into the back beneath the tarp, and nearly had his head caved in by two pounds of cast-iron. There was a young woman standing there, perhaps 20 or so human years old, strikingly pretty with green eyes and unusual pink hair. She held a heavy frying pan in her hands and the look on her face told him that she was more then prepared to swing it at his head again if he should come closer._

_"Sorry about this lady," he whispered. Faster then her untrained human eyes could detect, he dashed for her throat. He wouldn't hurt her, not really, but he needed to silence her before she yelled out and broke his cover. He closed his clawed hand over her throat and began to constict, blocking the flow of oxygen to the lungs. She made a sort of struggling gurgling noise and tried to slam her frying pan into his head again but his other hand grabbed around her wrist to stop her._

_Just as he started to see her eyes grow hazy, a small sound to the side caught his attention. He turned his head and his eyes opened wide in shock. Tucked away into the corner was a small wooden cradle, and sitting inside of it was the tiniest little thing that Naruto had ever seen. The baby looked like it would fit into the palm of his hand, and although was clearly asleep, was fussing about underneath it's blankets. It's head was covered with extremely short, fuzzy pink fur. It was clear that they had attempted to push the baby out of view in the dark inside of the caravan, but it was still only a few feet away._

_Unfortunately, Naruto's hand reacted before his brain had a chance to, and he slackened his grip on the woman's wrist in order to reach out to the baby. This was all the woman needed to swing her pan in a ferocious arc, directly into Demon boy's face._

_Naruto let out a cry of pain and dropped the woman, staggering backwards and clutching the side of his face as it throbbed with pain._

_"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU BASTARD!" The woman cried._

_Naruto gulped, praying against all possible odds that the people outside hadn't heard that._

_An explosion of golden fox-fire outside told him that his prayers were not going to be answered today._

_"Listen lady," Naruto growled out, "I don't need to hurt you or your daughter. Just get out of my way and nothing will happen to either of you."_

_The woman glared at him and stood her ground, but he could see the bead of sweat rolling down her wide forehead. She was afraid. More explosions of golden fox-fire lit up the outside, along with blasts of dark purple and pale cream colors, Nagato's and Konan's fox-fire respectfully. Naruto was surprised. Whomever it was that was protecting the caravan must be good if Yahiko needed help._

_"You're not going to get away with this." The woman growled at him, "We have the best Hunter there is with us. Your friends out there are are good as beat."_

_Naruto scoffed. There wasn't a Hunter alive who could take down Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan all at the same time. He told her so._

_"You're wrong about that." She replied, "This guy is unreal. You'll see." Suddenly she grinned, "Looks like one of your friends is already down."_

_Naruto's eyes flicked to the bursting lights and he immediatly understood her reasoning. The cream-colored bursts had dissapeared. There was only one explination for why that could be. Konan was out of the fight. She was either down, or had retreated. Since he knew that Konan wasn't the type to retreat, he knew that it had to be the former. Now it was his turn to break into a cold sweat. Within a few moments the purple flashes stopped as well._

_Nagato was down, Yahiko was alone out there. Naruto didn't wait around any longer, he dashed out of the caravan and dashed over to where the flashes had been._

_Naruto's eyes opened wide in shock at the scene before him. Four figures lay unmoving on the ground, two of whom Naruto recognized immediately as Konan and Nagato, both appearing to be unconscious with deep bruises on their foreheads. The other two were the two Hunters who had been riding the horses, and were similarly injured._

_But it was the standing figure whom Naruto was most interested in, "YAHIKO!"_

_The tall blonde looked different from any other time that Naruto had seen him, tense and nervous, his eyes glinting with something that was so foreign to those eyes that at first Naruto didn't recognize it. When he did, it sent a chill up his spine. It was fear. Yahiko was afraid. His fear filled eyes darted towards Naruto when the boy called out to him._

_"NARUTO, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"_

_Naruto slowly shook his head, he didn't understand what was happening, and he could see no enemy for Yahiko to be fearing. He began to run towards the downed figure of Konan._

_"NO NARUTO! LEAVE THEM, JUST RUN!"_

_A glint of something very small appeared at the ground by Yahiko's feet, and the powerful Kitsune's eyes opened wide in shock. He tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough. A crouching figure appeared next to Yahiko so quickly that it was as though he had simply blinked into existance. With blinding speed he wrapped one hand around Yahiko's head and yanked it down, throwing his own knee up to meet Yahiko's forehead. The sickening crack left no doubt that there was increadible force behind the blow._

_Yahiko's eyes rolled back in his head as he crumpled to the ground. Naruto was alone._

_The warrior that had taken Yahiko down was the same cloaked man that had been directing the caravan earlier. He turned his head slowly to glance at Naruto, who still couldn't see the man's face because of the hood. He seemed to give Naruto a light nod as though of acknowledgement._

_"Hey kiddo," the man spoke to Naruto, "Don't you worry, I didn't kill them. I aint even gonna stop you from bringing them back to the Kyuubi's place."_

_Naruto gulped, "Who are you?"_

_The cloaked man tilted his head slightly to the side as though in confusion, then he wordlessly reached up to his cloak and slipped it off._

_"I gotta say, I'm sort of dissapointed. I would have thought that the Kyuubi's kid would know enough to recognize the Flying Thunder God by his technique."_

_The man looked...actually somewhat similar to Yahiko. Tall, messy blonde hair, blue eyes, good-looking and confidant face, and he absolutely radiated power. Underneath the cloak he wore an ornate white coat with flame patterns on the bottom and the sleeves. He looked even more the spitting image of Naruto then Yahiko did._

_Naruto didn't recognize him, "Flying Thunder God? What the heck are you talking about?"_

_For a moment the man looked affronted, then he just sighed, "Really? I thought that I left a better impression then that. I mean its not every day that a guy takes on an S class demon and lives, right?"_

_Naruto's eyes opened wide in shock, "What are you talking about, took on an S class demon? Are you trying to say that..." he couldn't even finish the sentance._

_The man seemed to get back his previous bravado, "That's right kiddo! My name is Namikaze Minato, known world-wide as the Flying Thunder God, and also the only S ranked hunter in the world because I took on the almight Kyuubi no Kitsune 1-on-1 and I not only lived, I kicked the living snot out of the arrogant fox!"_

_Naruto shook his head, "I don't believe it. I'm Naruto no Kitsune, the crowned prince of the Fox clan, and the only son of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I have seen what the Lord Kyuubi can do up close, and I refuse to believe that anyone can beat that kind of power."_

_Minato raised an eyebrow, "Well whatever. Like I said, you can take your wounded and leave if you like, I won't stop you. I get what this was, just a simple little initiation thing for a newly realized Kitsune. I'd have let you just get on with it if your friends hadn't attacked when the little lady in there yelled out. I think that they thought their cover was blown so they had to buy you some time. Now if you don't mind, I gotta go check on said little lady to make sure that she's alright."_

_The man turned towards the caravan and nonchalantly walked past Naruto and towards the back entrance. A moment before he entered, he turned back to Naruto, "Oh and one more thing. Tell Kyu that I said hi." he gave a brilliant grin that was eerily similar to Naruto's own, and dissapeared into the caravan._

_Naruto waited a moment to make sure that the man, Minato, wasn't coming back out, and then he slung Yahiko over his shoulder, grabbed Konan and Nagato in each of his hands, and took off into the woods._

* * *

_Naruto watched from the corner of the room as an attractive young vixen continued to apply a healing balm onto Yahiko's forehead with considerable more lovingness then was stricktly needed. He didn't know why Yahiko wasn't healing on his own, like all Kitsune's could, but he supposed something must be stopping him. The same was true for Konan and Nagato, who were being tended to in seperate rooms._

_The sliding door on the far side of the room creaked open and Naruto turned to see another Fox walk into the infermary. The newcomer gestured for Naruto to come outside with him and Naruto nodded his consent._

_"I'll tell you when Yahiko awakens." The medical girl told him, and he thanked her and walked outside with the other fox._

_"Prince Naruto," The man stated in a highly formal manner, "The Great Lord Kyuubi no Kitsune has requested an audience with you in the throne room."_

_Naruto nodded, "Did Lord Kyuubi state what this was about?" he asked._

_The messenger shook his head in the negative, "No, but I will say, our lord did not at all seem happy."_

* * *

_Naruto gulped as he stood outside the enormous double-doors that lead to the throne room. Mahogany wood with red paint and gold inlay that formed the image of the Kyuubi's full beast form. Even the picture was terrifying to behold. A part of him couldn't help but love his parent, but a part of Naruto also knew that he was afraid of these meetings._

_Slowly he edged open one of the doors and walked inside._

_The throne room was really more of a throne hall, nearly 50 yards long from the doors to the throne itself. Jet black marble made up the floor, and every few feet there was a pair of crimson pillars on each edge that held up a large lanturn of blood-red flames, the Kyuubi's own fox-fire. Half-way through the hall there was a large curcular pit that was also alight with blood-red flames. The place would have been pitch black if not for this fire, lacking any windows or other places for light to enter. The ceiling was so high that it was impossible to see, instead opening up into a huge black emptyness overhead._

_Naruto walked down the hallway, around the fire pit, and saw the throne itself. A huge chair that was far too opulently designed for practicality. The seat itself was covered with red leather that came from the hides of creatures that Naruto honestly didn't want to know. The back and sides were enormous, forged from pure gold and shaped into the form of nine curling tendrils of flame._

_But none of this opulence could even begin to overshadow the being of sheer raw power that sat upon the throne, the Kyuubi no Kitsune in the flesh. Legs lazily hung over one of the arms rests, head propped up by one arm, crimson hair cascading down over the shoulders, razor claws and fangs, two fox-like ears sticking out from the top of the head, a single blood-red fox tail extending from the base of the spine and wrapped around the waist, eight floating orbs of fox-fire floating in the air in a perfect arc, a single tail growing out of each one, and an aura of demonic energy that was so potent that it actually obscured the face of the being at its core._

_"Naruto," the being spoke in a voice that held so much power that the room seemed to vibrate with it, "I am glad to see you my son."_

_Naruto fell to his knees and bowed deeply, "It's very good to see you as well...mother."_

* * *

_**End Naruto's Flashback**_

Naruto shook his head as he walked out of Iruka's home and into the open air. His memories had taken him farther then he had wanted to go this day, and he knew that it would only get worse. It didn't help anyone to dewll on the past. He walked out and glanced at his two friends to either side.

Sasuke noticed Naruto's look of discomfort, "What's the matter with you dobe?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head, "It's nothing. C'mon, we need to see these bodies."

Garra raised an eyebrow, "You want to go into the village with those hunters still there?"

Naruto grinned, "You afraid, Garra?"

The Tanuki Demon turned his head away, "Don't be rediculous. But it isn't smart to disturb a bee-hive."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I know...but I have to see for myself."

* * *

**More Author Notes:**

**Toad Demons: **The Toads are especially notable as the only Demons that are truly friendly towards humans. They are kindly, benevolent, and admire humanity for its ability to survive for so long despite their innate weakness. Most are known for hanging around mountains as hermits and helping out any humans who happen to stumble across them. They do however have a homeland, the Grand Sage Swamps which is home to the lord of one of the Five Demon Kingdoms. This Kingdom has the greatest number of humans living within it, and is considered to be something of a paradise for them. Because of their innate kindness, most humans don't think of them as demons, instead refering to them as the Toad Sages.

The Toads have three powers innate to themselves, though most only ever achieve much prowess with one. The first the first of these powers is the fact that their bodies generate enormous quantities of oil that they can excrete through their mouths or skin. This oil has several qualities, the first being that it is extremely flammable, combusting on contact with even a small spark, and burning at an extremely high temperature. The oil is also very slick, and if it remains in contact with the air for long enough, becomes as sticky and tough as super-glue. In small quantities the oil can also however have medicinal qualities. The second of the Toad powers is the abilite to generate swamps around them, including all the murky waters and bog flora that comes with it. The more powerful the Toad Demon, the larger the swamp. After this swamp is created, the Toad has a high degree of control over it, being able to control the water and the plants to attack their foes, or protect travellers. Some have said that the Grand Sage Swamps, over 500 miles in diameter, were made by Jiraiya himself. The third power of the Toads is the ability to draw in power from nature. They borrow tiny bits of life energy from all the living things in the area and use it to revitalize their own strength. Any Toad can learn any of these techniques, but they take so much practice that rarely do you find one who is a master at more then one. Jirayia is the only Toad Demon in existance who has mastered all three Toad techniques.

Some notable Toads include Jirayia, Gamabunta, Ma and Pa toad, and Gamamichi.

**Rabbit Demons: **If any one word can be used to describe the Rabbit Demon's general behavior, it would be "horny". The Rabbits are unique in this world in that every single one of them are female. Because of that, they cannot reproduce on their own, instead they require a male human to inpregnate them. Perhaps because of this, they are also the only demons who are born already capable of taking a fully human form, and must train hard to be able to take a beast form, rather then the other way around. Somehow, they do not give birth to half-demons. Although the fathers are always human, the babies are still full demon. Because they are weak, and are easy prey for more powerful demons, they breed often. However while some horny men might think that these demons are godsends, they are trully to be feared, for after they impregnate themselves, they have no more use of the human male and murder him, lest he cause trouble by desiring to see his daughter. In fact, they are so superstiscious about this, that if a Rabbit Demon does fall for the human that they chose as a "doner", both the mother and the baby are killed, in fear that the affection might infect the others. The mothers group together in large nomadic collonies (often posing as gypsies) and take care of the babies togehter until the baby is old enough to continue the cycle.

Rabbit Demons have very little power. They are barely stronger then humans, and have no elemental powers to speak of. The one power that they do have however, is a pheramone that they excrete that, if inhaled by a human male, will take over that human's mind and will force them to do whatever the Rabbit wants them to do, unless the human has the willpower to fight off the control. Most Rabbits have to release these pheramones through the mouth, it entering their victem in the form of a kiss, however the most powerful of them can exude the pheramones through their skin as well, making it much harder to avoid. Fortunately for man-kind, they are simply not very powerful demons, and even if they are the kind who train constantly and work themselves to the bone to try and get stronger, they simply do not ever achieve more then rank B (and even this is rare).

Some notable Rabbits include Ino and her old group.

**Hawk Demons:** Fear them. Fear them all. The Hawk Demons are second only to the Snakes as the most malevolent of all demon types. They are prideful, they are arrogant, and they look down on everyone who is not Hawk. They are not like Snakes who wish to slaughter and destroy, rather they wish to rule and command all those who are weaker then them, only killing those who refuse to submit. They live in a very highly structured caste system, where each higher caste rules the lower caste absolutely, even to the point where they can freely kill those of the lower caste without any reprecussions at all. At the top of this system is Madara himself, one of the Five Demon Lords, followed by the lesser lords, the masters, the warriors, the soldiers, the workers, the peasants, and finally the filth. If one wishes to rise up from one caste to another, they must simply prove that they are powerful or intelligent enough to be worthy of such. Of course, even the filth is, to them, of a higher level then any human, or most any other demon. They will not stop until they command the entire world.

The Hawk's most obvious advantage are their wings, through which they can fly, an ability which they claim gives then dominion over all others, since they can always see them. And indeed their vision is the next of their abilities. Although they cannot see through walls like the Hyuuga, or read muscle movements like the Uchiha, they can see for miles and miles and miles, so clearly that they could count the number of ants in an anthill from thousands of feet in the air. For more combatative purposes, they have the ability to control wind, creating gale force gusts, tornados and hurricanes, and can even control air pressure enough to create powerful storms. Some of the most powerful can even create a vaccum bubble around their enemies to suffocate them to death. On top of this, their wings also have another advantage in that their feathers, while as light as any other, are also as hard as steel and as sharp as razorblades. They can use their wings as biological swords, or they can fire their feathers at their enemies in a rain of deadly blades.

Some notable Hawks include Madara, his little brother Tobi, Juugo, and Karin.

**Caterpillar/Butterfly Demons: **The only other demon besides the Toads which one might argue is not intentionally antagonistic towards humans. However unlike the Toads they are not at all good for humans. Caterpillars are even more pathetic and helpless then Rabbits, and as such they also have to ensure their survival through means other then strength, that being the fact that when they give birth, they give birth a lot. An average clutch contains roughly 20 babies, each one about the size of a person's index finger at birth. However they grow very, very quickly, becoming 10 times this size within their first week. To do this, of course, they must eat, and eat a lot. Caterpillars are vegitarian, at least until they have grown, and one clutch of babies can strip a farmer's fields bare in a single night, and a large portion of the surrounding trees with them. They are locusts who cause extraordinary damage to the surrounding area. When they grow up, they slow down their eating somewhat, but not much. They still require copious amounts of food to keep up with their enormous metabolism. Despite this metabolism, they still always manage to gain copious amounts of weight to the point of near obesity. Of course, they are not malevolent and they don't mean to eat entire villages out of house and home, they just have to in order to stay alive, and staying alive is very important to them. Despite having such large clutches, it's not common to find adults, since they are so weak and defenceless that less then 1% of them reach adulthood. Out of those who do reach adulthood, even fewer ever reach the final stage of their developement

Although their powers as Caterpillars are minimal, even pathetic, their most impressive ability being that they can swell their bodies up like balloons as a defense mechanism. Some who train very hard for a very long time manage to have a certain degree of control over this, only inflating certian parts of their bodies, such as their fists, but even then they never reach past C class. However, they do have a secret, much like that of the Foxes, which holds a power which is phenomenal to say the least. Of those Caterpillars who reach full maturity, some, rarely, create a cocoon that they go into for nearly an entire month. In this stage they are even more helpless then before, but if they manage to survive the whole month, something miraculous occurs. They emerge from the coccon transformed, empowered into the Butterfly Demons. In this form they loose all of their excesss weight, grow beautiful, enormous Butterfly wings, and achieve a level of power which few others can claim to have. Their strength and speed increase until they are nearly on par with the Monkey demons, and they gain the ability to cause plantlife to grow at an increadibly fast rate at their whim. Although no Butterflies have achieved S rank, the vast majority of them are A ranked demons.

Some notable Caterpillars/Butterflies include Chouji and his father Chouza

**Sea Demons: **Sea Demons are unique in that they are not correlated to any specific creature of the sea, but to sea creatures in general. One might be shark-based, while his own father had connections to Sea Turtles, and his son a lionfish. Because of this, their character and even their abilities are usually all over the map. What they all have in common however is that they all are capable of coming up on land, but they all preffer to live under the sea. They tend to be reclusive and unconcerned with matters of things going on above the sea, because it does not concern them. Very little is known about the culture of Sea Demons, and many legends about them persist, perhaps true, perhaps not. It is highly susupected that there is at least one enormous under-sea city where many of them live (some have suggested as many as over one-million), but this is still not confirmed. Some people believe that it would be more prudent to break the Sea Demons up into various types (such as Shark, Octopus, ect. Demons), but because the different types of Sea Demons don't seem to function on a lineage based system, most still consider them to be a single breed.

Because of their various types, Sea Demons have a variety of powers and abilities, usually having some correlation as to the Sea creature that they emulate. A Shark might be extremely strong, fast, and vicious, whereas an Octopus can generate ink from their bodies which they can shoot from their mouths like a canon. However there is one ability which is uniform throughout all Sea Demons, that being a certain degree of hydrokenisis, the ability to manipulate water. Powerful Sea Demons can create whirlpools, tidal waves, or even huge whips made of water that they have complete control over (whereas weaker ones can simply control water current to make high-speed swimming easier). Because of their reclusiveness and secrecy, it is unknown just how powerful Sea Demons can become, and there are even theories that a sixth (or even more) S class demons may exist among them, however these are likely nothing more then theories and rumors.

Some notable Sea Demons include Kisame and Suigetsu.

* * *

**Reviews: My reason for existing!**

**silverspetz: Hello Muse. Glad you enjoyed my most recent couple chapters. In regards to Hinata trusting Kiba, that is her major weakness as a character, she is far too trusting. It's probably going to get her into trouble one of these days, but it's also part of what Kiba likes about her. And yeah, Kiba's reasonings will become apparent with time. Despite having pretty good reasons for what he did at the time, it is still the time that he looks back on as his worst moment because of his actions. You'll find that everyone in Naruto's group has things in their past that they regret (or very adamantly do not regret despite what it did to them).**

**9-tailed reaper: Uh, yeah that was Neji. I didn't mean for that to really be very debatable, I meant for it to be obvious that it was Neji...maybe I should have been more direct...**

**Blood Seraph: Yup, 5 tails to go and the last one is a BIG jump. Naruto has obscenely enormous potential, but he won't get there overnight. Of course his persistance, obstinance, and durability play a big part in that :p I didn't say if Minato was dead or alive, though given the time-line that I have just given in this chapter, he would be at least 61 years old by now if he were still alive.**

**As for your imput on the actual chapter, thanks a bunch! Yeah, Kiba knew how to get to her where no-one else did (although he was partially channelling Naruto here, having seen how well Naruto inspires others). I do love Kiba x Hinata as well (much better then Naruto x Hinata...it is amazing how subtle differences between two characters can make a world of difference when it comes to that). And then there's...him...the man in the shadows, the director of our little play...WHO IS HE? MWA HA HA HA HA HA! *cough-wheeze* anyways, yeah, he will show up plenty more times.**

**PeaceForEternity: Minato isn't Naruto's daddy for three reasons. 1: He is human while Naruto is full demon, and I didn't want Naruto to be a half-demon (because someone else is...). 2: It would be SO obvious because he is already Naruto's pappy in the original story, and although it works fantastically for that story, I think that it works better here for what Minato's purpose is, if he is not Naruto's dad. And 3: He is someone elses daddy.**

**BUM BUM BUM!**

**Namikaze Soul: Hm? Hanabi? That is an excellent question, and it has an excellent answer. I'm not going to tell it to you, but it does have an excellent answer.**

**bathedinblood: Wow, high praise indeed. Thanks a bunch! Yeah, I like conflict and turmoil, and Kiba's and Hinata's story is going to have its serious ups and downs.**

**Everyone who asked about getting to the NaruSaku moments, don't you worry your little heads :P They will come, and they will have many different types. Neither of them are very sweet on the other at first, but that will change. And for Naruto it will change soon (maybe not for a bit longer for Sakura).**

**Everyone else: Arigato friends! I do love to know that someone appreciates my work!**


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